


Pixie Dust and Hydrogen

by AlphaStarr



Series: PDAH-verse [1]
Category: Ever After High
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Blood Magic, Character Death, F/F, F/M, FanNoWriMo, Fantasy Realm Physics, Mild Blood, Multi, NaNoWriMo 2016, magic headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8667742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaStarr/pseuds/AlphaStarr
Summary: "I'm not ready to do this! How can I just let my friend face her doom as if it's her destiny?"
  "It is my destiny," she stepped forth with the all command of her royal blood. "For better or worse, I chose this path. I still choose it."
Headmaster Grimm wasn't just making things up when he claimed the stories would poof! if the students didn't sign... he was just a little bit wrong about the manner in which they would do so. Or: I'm not a fan of empty threats... unless they're real.





	1. The End of the School Year (is Just the Beginning)

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my first-ever completed NaNoWriMo project... though "FanNoWriMo" is a little more accurate here. :') finally, after ten years of failing the NaNo challenge, i, too, have at last managed to complete 50,000(+) words within the month of november... and now, having completed it, i can begin posting. updates daily until all chapters have been uploaded.
> 
> please ~~don't judge me by my cupid/maddie otp~~ give my rarepair a chance? i love them so much,,,
> 
> gods, i hope someone actually reads this.

When it came down to it, the faculty knew best.

Professor Goodfairy, from the Fairies' College, published papers about it regularly. Not even Dr. West, the Wicked Witch from the University of Oz, had anything to say against the theory. Even from the realms of another world altogether, Headmistress Bloodgood warned them about it that same day she transferred Miss Cupid-- they were a world in peril, cautious peril.

Those three most esteemed among the faculty of Ever After High spoke of it among themselves-- Milton Grimm arguing on one point, Baba Yaga emphasizing another. It was Giles Grimm who proposed the solution, ultimately, and all three could agree upon one point: this tale was a tale that would have to be told, even unto only a few. It would be a very small, very bright coalition of students they would allow to learn this, a lesson just now beginning to be taught in the echelons of higher education.

And there was no time better to introduce it than at the end of the year, when schedules must be arranged.

* * *

"Advanced Placement Fairy-Physics..." Apple beamed at option open on her junior year schedule. "That's the new class that's going to be available! I'm definitely going to take that one."

"Huh? It looks like I've got the option to take it, too," Raven scrolled through her own options on the Mirrorpad. "I didn't know my Che-myth-stry average was _that_ good!"

"Well, you do better than most on the pop quizzes," Apple offered. "Maybe you should try it. Taking AP Fairy-Physics might be our only chance to get a few extra credits for university... and I guess I'll need them sooner than later since my fairytale... happened a little bit off-schedule."

"I mean... it's still _kind of_ the Snow White fairytale," Raven attempted, flopping down on her bedding. "A... metaphorical interpretation? Got tricked by an Evil Queen, ate a poison apple, um... seven... of our friends? And pixies are kind of short, so if you use the word 'dwarf' like an adjective..."

Apple shook her head, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Raven, but it's not the same anymore... and you know what? I think I might actually be okay with that. It's kind of scary, that ours was the first fairytale to change, but maybe I needed that kick. Now that the story's, well, _over_ , I can really give up on thinking you'll ever be evil."

"Thank goodness for that," Raven smiled and, ultimately deciding it couldn't hurt, selected AP Fairy-Physics as her mandatory science class. "I'm kind of looking into Seelie Sorcery as a career... you know, telling people how to break curses, undoing hexes, that sort of stuff. Fairy Physics sounds like it could be useful in that field."

"It's got to be a prerequisite for something, at least," Apple agreed. "And since you already know so much about curses, Seelie Sorcery sounds like a _perfect_ fit for you!"

"Hey, you've got to know the illness before you can figure out the cure," Raven grinned, eagerly skipping over General Villany and Evilnomics classes in favor of Hexology II, History of Heroic Questing, and Spellcasting Ethics. "Mostly, I'm just relieved that most of my credits transfer over to my new choice. I wouldn't give up being good for anything, but I'm _definitely_ glad that I don't have to take make-up classes over summer break. I get enough of school during the school year; I don't need an extra three months of it."

"Well," Apple sighed, visibly deflating. "I love my family so much, and I definitely care about our Royal traditions... but I kind of wish _I_ was staying here over the summer. My mom is... well, you know how she's supposed to die in the fairytale, and then you're supposed to usurp the family throne and drive the kingdom to ruin?"

"Still not going to do that," Raven sat up, hoisting herself off her bed. "But your mom isn't going to die! Isn't that a good thing?"

"Definitely! It's a great thing," Apple exclaimed. "It's just, she spent her entire life up until this point working with the whole business model of making sure the kingdom would have enough money to function even after my fairytale's bleakest years were over. Now, it's kind of like... we don't need so much insurance, I guess. She doesn't know what to do anymore, since the fairytale was supposed to happen next year, around my sixteenth birthday. She had her own funeral planned, and everything."

"No offense, Apple," Raven cringed, "But that is seriously the creepiest Royal tradition. I mean... my mom, who's maybe the most evil villain of them all, didn't even _actually_ kill your grandma for the fairytale. Kidnapping and imprisonment isn't much better, but the fact that Royal parents go into their kids' fairytales _expecting_ to die..."

"No offense taken... I'm _completely_ with you on that one," Apple grimaced. "Nowadays, the 'funeral' is mostly just ceremony... you know, a _metaphorical_ death, where a queen passes on her crown and scepter to the queen that follows. But way, way back in the 'once upon a times'... it's creepy, reading your family history and seeing like, a line of fifty ancestors in a row all go out the same way. The notes about how they all went for a walk outside the night before their daughter turned sixteen, and just... _waited_ for the Evil Queen to come. Like a ritual."

"Wait," Raven looked at her oddly, "You mean you've been doing it on _purpose_?"

"After going through the story one hundred times, if we really wanted to prevent it from happening," Apple glanced back. "Don't you think we would have made sure the Queen stayed inside?"

"My mom always said it was a compulsion curse cast by one of _our_ ancestors," Raven furrowed her brow curiously.

"I'm sure there must have been one at some point," Apple shook her head, "But like you said, Seelie Sorcery is a thing. If there was a curse, then the castle hexaminer would've gotten to it a long, long, long time ago."

"You're right. I'm sure your mom's just stressed that things aren't going according to plan," Raven sighed, dismissing the matter from her thoughts for now. Then, "What does she think about Darling?"

Apple flushed and seemed suddenly very, very interested in her class schedule. "You mean Darling as in Darling _Charming_? What about her?"

"I mean... I wasn't actually there, so I can only repeat what I've been told," Raven waggled her eyebrows. "But everyone says that Darling Charming was the one who woke you up... _not_  Daring."

"It was-- well," Apple chewed her lip. "She said it was CPR!"

"Nuh-uh. As your local expert in poisons and curses, I can tell you for a fact that CPR alone doesn't break _any_ of my mom's spells," Raven shook her head. "It's pretty basic hexology, magic ailments need magic cures. Poisoned apples-- magic. Lip-to-lip contact with your true love-- also magic. Maybe you thought it was CPR, and maybe even _she_ thought it was CPR, but CPR is a non-magical cure for the non-magical ailment of _not breathing_. It might've gotten you breathing again... if that was the only thing that was wrong. But if you ask me, regular CPR shouldn't have cured the effects of poison magic."

"I mean, the argument's sound, but still," Apple began nibbling at the end of her stylus. "Anyways, since my story's over, maybe I should drop Damsel-in-Distressing?"

"I'm not _that_ easily distracted," Raven chuckled. "Even if you won't tell me what your mom thinks, what do _you_ think about Darling?"

"Well... she's nice," Apple fiddled with her stylus.

"That's all you have to say?"

"She's... considerate. You know," Apple broke eye contact. "Polite. And she's brave, the bravest of them all. I guess the right word for it is 'chivalrous'... though I've never described a girl that way before."

"Then she can be the first," Raven teased. "Is that all?"

"Well... I didn't really think about it when it happened," Apple sighed dreamily, "But it was just like time stopped, that first time we spoke afterwards. The light seemed to catch on every particle of her hair... but then she disappeared. It was kind of strange... almost like she was trying to avoid me."

"What it sounds like is that you were too busy admiring her to say anything," Raven elbowed her playfully. "Or hear anything, for that matter."

"No, she definitely vanished," Apple shook her head. "Maybe she was weirded out by what happened during the Dragon Games. Or she didn't want to see me, after that first match where I knocked her off her dragon..."

"Hey. We've all forgiven you for it... you were being manipulated," Raven insisted. "And besides, Darling's not that shallow. Her ankle was practically healed in a day!"

"But it could have been way, way worse," Apple exhaled. "Anyways, that's why I definitely can't stay at school this summer... because Darling's going to be staying here."

"That's right," Raven winced sympathetically. "I've got my fair share of issues with mom... but I can only _imagine_ what the Charmings are going through."

* * *

"All right, Dex... what do you think about Dungeon Navigation 101?" Darling grinned wildly at her twin, thrilled beyond belief at all of the heroic classes now opened to her. "Maybe Swordsmanship I? Do you think Headmaster Grimm would let me skip ahead to Swordsmanship II if I had the Red Knight of Wonderland vouch for me?"

Dexter sighed forlornly and stared at his own class list, "Those both sound perfect for you, sis. You might even see me in class, if we're lucky."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Darling cocked her head and blinked at him. "Since only my general education courses are still valid for my career path, I'll be mostly starting over anew on hero classes."

"I might have to repeat a year," Dexter worried his lip. "Aside from stuff like Crownculus and Good Kingdom Management, my GPA isn't exactly... great. Even though I've been practicing as much as I can, I have no idea how I'm going to pass my practical Jousting final. And I think I'll be lucky if I _survive_ Dungeon Navigation 101, much less defeat the monster that counts for 60% of the grade..."

"At least you don't have to repeat a year for _Damsel-In-Distressing_ ," Daring bemoaned. "Me! Daring Charming... Damsel-In-Distressing! I'm destined for the _one fairytale_ where the prince is the one in distress."

"I mean. I'm sure if you ask Headmaster Grimm, we can do something," Dexter offered. "Raven told me that Apple's exempt from a whole bunch of classes because what happened during the Dragon Games qualifies as _her story_... technically, kinda. The whole winter adventure has to count at least a little bit!"

"Don't you think mom and dad already _tried that_?" Daring melodramatically collapsed against a chaise. "I will admit... being turned into a beast _changed_ me. And I have certainly learnt my lesson! But Headmaster Grimm  _insists_ that years of castle confinement are essential to that fairytale."

Darling chuckled at him, "And so... like any other student who spends years and years in a position of royalty without becoming either hero or ruler, you're stuck with Damsel-In-Distressing and Princessology. And like any other fairytale antagonist, I'm sure you've been recommended a General Villany course."

Daring made a muffled noise of despair, "I also flunked Crownculus. Again."

"Again?" Dexter looked at him reproachfully, "But I loaned you _all_ my notes!"

"Not all of us can calculate 'the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow' in our heads," Daring rolled his eyes. "Besides. I had more important things to do."

"Studying _is_ important," Darling flicked his cheek.

"I had bookball! Thronecoming!" He sprawled out further, "An existential _crisis_! What was I supposed to tell mom and dad about spring semester... 'oh yes, by the way, I found out that I'm not the future king of all lands like you thought I was'? 'Darling isn't going to be the Damsel in Distress you wanted'? And now, look at us. All three Charmings of Ever After, stuck in summer school, and doomed to repeat a year."

"Mom and dad are going to _kill us_ when we go home," Dexter groaned, flopping his face down against the nearest pillow. He flicked listlessly through his thus far empty schedule.

"Who says we're _ever_ going home?" Daring shuddered. "I'm sure that we can keep spending summers here at school, and then I'll find a nice, quiet, _abandoned_ castle to settle down in and wait for my fairytale rescue. Maybe you can ask Raven to hide you for a while, at least until _your_ fairytale begins. And, of course, our lucky little sister can happily marry Apple White, and live in her castle where our parents will be far, far away at all times."

"Um. Well, that's..." Darling flushed. "We can't just run away from mom and dad forever!"

"You seem to be doing a pretty great job at avoiding _Apple_ ," Dexter remarked suspiciously. "Actually, pretty much _every time_  we come across her. It's like you're there one minute, and gone the next."

"That's different," Darling insisted. "I wouldn't know what to say to her! All I managed to do the last time we spoke was congratulate her on capturing the Evil Queen and tell her she woke up because I performed CPR. Which definitely _isn't_ true love's kiss."

"You're right. It isn't," Dexter shook his head, "Which means that, if it _were_ just CPR, it wouldn't have worked. Also... I was there, and you're supposed to start with chest compressions, not mouth-to-mouth contact. You kinda had the right idea, but we learn CPR in Heroics 102 and that's not really how rescue breathing is supposed to go."

Darling pouted, "I guess it's a good thing I signed up for Heroics 102."

"Ah, yes, one of my favorite classes... you're going to love it, Darling," Daring assured her. He sighed, "My only regret is that my career path no longer includes Heroics _103_. Dad is very... disappointed."

"Look... we might not be doing all the things our parents want from us," Darling reasoned. "But we can still avoid repeating a year if we study hard this summer! Dexter, Daring and I can help you train up on sparring and monster-fighting in time for the make-up exams at the end of summer. Daring, I can tutor you in Damsel-In-Distressing and Princessology; I'm sure Dexter can re-teach you Crownculus and borrow some Gen Villany notes from Raven. As for you two, Daring can make sure I've got all my dueling forms right, and Dex can catch me up on the pen and paper half of heroics."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not actually sure it's humanly possible to do all that in one summer," Dexter balked.

Daring groaned, "That sounds like so much work... Worst. Summer. Ever."

"Look," Darling crossed her arms. "It's either that, or going home and explaining this to our parents."

"On second thought," Dexter rounded, "Your suggestion sounds _completely_ feasible. It'll be a narrow fit... but I'll start drawing out a schedule."

"Hooray, homework summer!" Daring declared.

Yup, those were certainly her brothers. Darling linked arms with them and laughed, "I knew you'd see it my way. Come on, let's go pick out our classes... at least _all_ of us have Good Kingdom Management!"

* * *

But, as the students selected their classes for the upcoming year, storytellers triumvirate gathered in the Headmaster's office, speaking of the tidings to come.

"And you are sure it is wise, Giles, to hold off this information until the end of summer?" Baba Yaga eyed him dubiously. "Dr. West is a personal friend of mine-- wicked though she may be, she played her part as a dutiful villainess and has retired to education work ever afterwards. Much like myself, in fact. She would no more exaggerate the information's urgency than I would."

"Perhaps we ought to spend more time working out the lesson plan," Milton Grimm countered. "It is not simple information to digest, it may be wise to hold off on it one more year. Just in case a contrary study emerges."

"One summer so we may collect our data and present it in the most clear, succinct manner possible," Giles pronounced solemnly. "Then, one week, that we may lay the groundwork for these students to digest it. Ever After High is at the heart of this matter, and we must not delay any further. Nor can we afford to be misinformed, and in our haste to explain the portend of our world, incorrectly relay what we have learned. Thus-- one summer, plus one week. And then, they shall understand."

"So shall it be," Baba Yaga nodded once, solemn. "I will ask Dr. West to Mirror-mail me the foremost studies on the matter... I suppose I ought to contact Professor Goodfairy as well. As for Headmistress Bloodgood... well, the portal-mirror Miss Cupid arrived through has yet to open again. I shudder to think the ill premonition this casts upon _our_ realm."

"The students are beginning to sign up for class," Headmaster Grimm reported. "With the prerequisite of an A in Professor Rumplestiltskin's class, sans that 'Extra Credit' he's so fond of... only our most comprehensive minds shall take Advanced Placement Fairy-Physics."

"Yes," nodded Giles. "There's Humphrey Dumpty... Apple White... Dexter Charming... Farrah Goodfairy..."

"And," Baba Yaga peered over her glasses. "Raven Queen. Not much for the science of it all, but the girl has an innate talent for all things magic."

"Perhaps we had better move her into advisory for this class," the Headmaster suggested hastily. "We wouldn't want her to think..."

"Hm, yes," Baba Yaga pursed her lips. "That's the heart of it, isn't it? You don't want to let her _think_."

"She will regret taking this class," sighed Grimm. "Or, as likely as not, disbelieve it. And we must not let the students doubt."

"The students are capable of thinking for themselves... let them believe what they shall believe, as we too do remain stubbornly attached to our own theories. Our sources shall speak for themselves," Giles answered wisely. "Ah! Now, look at this. Madeline Hatter has signed on. I always did think she would be excellent at che-myth-stry."

"Hatter...? Well," Headmaster Grimm collapsed in his chair. "I suppose certain parts of che-myth-stry have always looked like nonsense to me. It was never _my_ strong suit when I attended school here."

"And there, Alistair Wonderland," Giles clapped his hands. "Were the subject matter less grim, I would think this class shaping up to be most interesting indeed. As it stands, I am fortunate enough to be teaching it."

"You will be more fortunate," Baba Yaga tittered. "If you are still alive to teach it ten years hence."


	2. The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives (or, you know, just junior year)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New year, new roommates... same old school, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's shipping o'clock somewhere

"Ah... the start of a new school year!" Apple sighed, twirling joyously into her new-assigned room. "Has there ever after been a better feeling?"

"Uh, maybe... the end of the school year?" Briar laughed, following her in. "I'm glad we get to be roommates this time, though. Not that rooming with Ashlynn wasn't great... but, well, you know her. Twelve o'clock, sharp, she's out like a light. It can get tough to stay quiet."

"It gets hextremely hard, especially when you've got tons more Crownculus homework left to go," Apple shook her head and chuckled. "Rooming with Raven was pretty fun... but she's really, _really_ sensitive to bright lights. Maybe it's something to do with the dark magic thing?"

"Maybe," Briar shrugged. "What classes do you have this semester, anyways?"

"Well, I signed up for Crownculus II, Princessology III, and Good Kingdom Management 103, of course," Apple set about sweeping her side of the room. "And I got Headmaster Grimm to waive Damsel-In Distressing, since that part of my story's technically over. I'm taking History of Heroic Questing instead, since I don't know what's going to happen in the future... maybe I'll have to give out a quest later on."

"Hey, me too! Well," Briar chuckled. "Headmaster Grimm didn't waive Damsel-in-Distressing for me, but I've got Crownculus, Princessology, and Good Kingdom Management, too. History of Heroic Questing is my history prerequisite. "

"I'm glad there'll be a familiar face there... we can borrow each others' notes," Apple beamed. "I put down Regional Fairytale Variation for my history prerequisite, and AP Fairy-Physics for science. The Student Council, as usual, is going to be my elective this year... and, of course, I can't forget the required Grimmnastics class!"

"Ouch-- AP Fairy-Physics sounds like an all-nighter waiting to happen," Briar jibed, wiring her sound system before doing anything else. "Jillian convinced the teachers to run this crazy awesome Extreme Gym Class thing, so I was the first to sign up for that. Sorry I won't see you in regular gym class, but class credit for parkour is too hexciting to pass up!"

"I'll have bandages ready for when you return," Apple shook her head, long used to her friend's antics. "I'm kind of surprised _you_ didn't sign up for AP Fairy-Physics, you're amazing at Che-myth-stry! That study party was completely unforgettable-- as well as all the things I learned from it."

"Aw, thanks," Briar grinned, "Actually, I _did_ do well enough in Professor Rumplestiltskin's class to get in... but honestly, a class where the prerequisite is an A in Che-myth-stry? That might just be too hardcore even for me. You're going to be on your own for that one... though, of course, you'll probably do spelltacular even without my help."

"I'll definitely do my royal best," Apple agreed. She gave pause a moment, then realized, "I don't think you mentioned which elective you were taking this year. What kind of class is it?"

"My elective this year... oh my fairy godmother, you won't believe how awesome this class is," Briar at last got her music to hook up. "Okay, so you know how Maid Marian used to do all sorts of crazy things when she first got involved with Robin Hood's story? Leading the Merry Men in thievery, feats of acrobatics... that sort of stuff?"

"Didn't she write a book about it?" Apple pondered, trying to recall those stories.

"I guess she did. Anyways, she heard about Darling and her escapades and now, she's teaching a class in _Self-Rescuing for Damsels_!" Briar fairly squealed. "Apparently, she didn't know there was an interest in any of that stuff before. I guess your Princess Charming really opened the door for the rest of us in heroics."

"Well," Apple reddened. "I... wouldn't exactly call her _my_ Princess Charming."

A flicker of confusion passed Briar's face, "The kiss? The whole one-true-love thing? I mean, Headmaster Grimm basically _said_ you were done with your fairytale, Darling rescued you; cue the happily ever after."

"We, um," Apple cleared her throat, a little nervous. "We haven't exactly... talked since then."

"Wait. So you haven't 'talked,'" Briar attempted to clarify, "Or you haven't ' _talked_.'"

"We haven't done _either_ ," Apple sighed, anxiously bit her lip. "She only mentioned that she was trying to give me CPR that day. Maybe she thinks the whole thing is a mistake?"

"You don't just hit 'true love's kiss' by mistake," Briar insisted, "Besides! Even though romantic true love  _is_ what the original fairytale says, who's to say it's not a platonic soulmates deal? I think I read a fairytale about a girl who brought her sister back from death by crying tears of pure, familial love. Pretty sure there's another one about a princess who spent twelve years weaving nettles to save her cursed brothers."

"I'm, um," Apple coughed nervously. "I appreciate the suggestion, I really do! But I'm pretty sure it's not really... platonic."

"Well, it's not a bad thing you're feeling romantic, either," Briar grinned, knowing this was as close as she was ever going to get to an outright confession. "As long as you're not forcing yourself to feel one way or another, it's all good in my book. Either way, you're going to have to talk to her _sometime_ \-- you know, it's not really like you to avoid conversations."

"I've tried! I've tried to talk to her like sixty-three and a half times since after the Dragon Games," Apple visibly deflated, sighing as she leaned against her broom. "But, you know, she does that thing where you're looking at her one second, and then she tosses her hair, and it's just so long and soft and totally enchanting-- I mean, _distracting_ \-- and then she just disappears. Like she was only ever there for a split second."

"You know, that's the first time I've heard about enchanting hair... but I guess she _is_ from the same family that produced Daring's _literally blinding_ smile," remarked Briar, mulling over the issue as she began puzzling over A/V plugs. "Have you tried sending her a message on MyChapter yet?"

"I didn't... though I kind of wish I had." Unable to stand the anxiety of the matter any longer, Apple redoubled her cleaning efforts. "It's just that I thought it would be better to have this sort of conversation in person. I mean... I've _never_ had this sort of conversation before, since my parents and the Charmings just all sort of _assumed_ , and even though Daring and I agreed we wouldn't make anything official in high school, I've always been the one getting asked out."

"I... guess I can see it from your side of the page," Briar nodded, slowly. "I mean, I can't imagine it's _easy_ to start a conversation like that. What would you even say? 'Hey, thanks for accepting my friend request, let's start planning the royal wedding?'"

"Besides, all royal etiquette books all say that matters of betrothal should be handled face-to-face to avoid insult or confusion," Apple attempted a smile. "This is _my fairytale_ we're talking about. I just don't want to mess it up... especially since none of us are totally sure about how happily-ever-after ends anymore. And since Darling's kind of on the Rebel side of things, I don't know... maybe she was just happy to be the one to rescue me. Maybe she's not really interested in pursuing the rest of the story."

"Well, you know what I say-- you only live once upon a time," Briar stood and dusted off her knees. "And you'll never end a story you never tell."

"If only I could get her to talk to me about it," Apple sighed. "I know the situation is hextremely awkward... but that still doesn't explain why she's avoiding me."

"Maybe it's like... you know how, whenever Raven was around, Dexter used to go completely quiet for minutes at a time?" Briar offered. "Like before they actually went out on a date. And... now that I think about it, my cousin Rosabella mentioned that sometimes even _Daring_ is prone to stumbling over his words! Maybe it's like... a Charming thing. Maybe they're usually good enough at talking, but they've been cursed to get super nervous when they care about what someone else thinks."

"Briar," Apple chuckled, seeming to relax a little at last. "I think that applies to _everyone_."

"See?" Briar joked. "A universal curse! Everyone's got it."

"Anyways... we'll have plenty of time to brainstorm ideas this afternoon," Apple at last finished sweeping. "After we're done with decorating our room!"

"All right," Briar hit the music on her sound system. "Sounds like a decorating party to me!"

* * *

And, too, emerging from a dorm room several doors down did Raven Queen and her new roommate, Maddie Hatter, at last finish settling in for the new school year.

"I can't believe we finished setting up so quickly," Raven shook her head, bemused. "You even managed to get that done faster than me, and _I_ was using magic!"

"Well, since I only ever went as far as Book End, it was easier for the school to remember what was never first forgotten, or if forgotten, only ever briefly misplaced, and certainly not so far as more than a hop, a skip, and a somersault away," Maddie beamed, throwing her arms around her best friend. "But not to worry, Raven, the school hasn't misplaced you, either! I'm sure your blankets and dorm decorations will make themselves comfortable again quick as a fiddle."

"You know, I think that kind of actually makes sense," Raven grinned, "Either I'm already learning new things...or I'm starting to go a little crazy."

"Why not both?" Maddie bounded down the hall. "Who says you can't learn things and start to going a little mad at the same time? Why, if I didn't know better-- and I don't know better-- I'd say that was the entire reason High School exists!"

"Maybe I'm _not_ going crazy," Raven chuckled. "Maybe _you're_ starting to go sane."

"Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Maddie shook her head, her hair flying everywhere. "To Book End for teatime! There's nothing a big ol' cup of my dad's tea can't fix."

"Hexcellent," Raven winked at her own pun. "Maybe afterwards, we can go buy the books and other supplies for our classes. The required reading for History of Heroic Questing is a mile-long list."

"Oh! But you can do the whole--" and here Maddie rolled her eyes back into her head and made an odd expression, "--scccchlurp!-thing with books, right?"

"Maybe. I guess? I haven't really tried it since we fought Courtly in Wonderland... and I was _kind of_ a little zoned out at the time," Raven scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I mean, I definitely _remember_ how to do it. But I'm pretty sure if I do, I'll wind up _literally absorbing_ the book again, which just... feels weird. Probably the most evil thing that book gave me was a royally wicked, extra-pulpy headache."

"Now _that's_ saying something, considering how much of your mom's evil magic was in there," Maddie giggled, pouring herself a cup of pre-teatime tea. "One lump or two?"

"Maddie, maybe now isn't the best time to--"

Suddenly, as they rounded the corner, she bumped into a walking stack of boxes and spilled the scalding drink.

"Woah!" Raven extended her magic, attempting to catch the several falling objects at once.

"Aw man!" Dexter cursed, landing on his rear.

"Whee!" cried Maddie, suspended mid-trip by Raven's magic. She slurped up a portion of the tea that was floating in midair. "Now that's something I only get to do every couple of weeks!"

Raven cast once more, vanishing away the tea, still hot, and carefully setting down her friend and the various boxes.

"Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ sorry, Dex," she winced, faintly embarrassed. "Are you okay?"

"You sure took a tumble there," Maddie offered him a hand up, and pulled a feather-duster from her hat so as to tidy him. "You know, usually it's the other way around! People bumping into tea, instead of tea bumping into people. My tea and I are both _hextremely_ sorry."

"No! No, it was totally my fault," Dexter, mortified, hurriedly straightened his glasses. "I mean. I was just helping Darling move her stuff, and I shouldn't have been running up the stairs with so many boxes and, um. You look good, Raven... how was your summer?"

He closed the sentence with an awkward, shaky smile.

"My summer...?" Raven smiled back, laughing a little. "Oh, you know... it was good. I went back home to see my dad, mom and I argued less than usual on Visiting Day... and then I came here. Where I am now. So, um, how was your summer?"

"Gort," Dexter fumbled. "Wait-- I meant good, not gort. Because I, uh, started saying 'good' and then it turned into 'great,' but... way to go there, Dex."

Maddie giggled to herself. "I'm going to go on ahead to check on my dad, you know him, always mixing up the elevenses with the three-ses and the batter with the bread-and-butterflies! I'll see _you two_ in Book End!"

She pulled her hat down over the rest of her body, then popped her head out to add a "toodles!" before promptly disappearing, hat and all.

"I won't tell her that hat-portation isn't possible if you don't?" Raven suggested.

"Maybe it _is_ possible... I'm still not completely sure her hat's not a wormhole," Dexter chuckled back nervously. "I, um. I should go put these in Darling's room."

"I'll help." Raven grabbed the first two of several boxes and winced, immediately channeling a little magic into her arms to give them a boost. "Fairy Godmother, these are heavy... what's even _in_ these?"

Dexter rolled his back and hefted up the other boxes. "I think the ones you got are... her helmet and spaulders? Maybe one of those has some extra decorative armor in it."

"Is _all of this_ armor? As in, stuff Darling wears all the time?" Raven began walking to the nearest dorm. "Where are we going?"

"Third door down on the right," Dexter nodded. "And, uh, she doesn't wear the White Knight stuff all the time, anymore, but it's amazing to think she can actually _fight_ in this, since she's kind of... you know, smaller in frame. Daring might still be on the stairs, trying carry up her collection of _leg armor_."

"That's pretty impressive," Raven admitted, at last dropping the heavy boxes at the door to knock.

Darling yanked the door open, "Oh! Raven, it's so nice to see you. I hope my brothers haven't bothered you into helping."

"Nah, I just ran into Dexter in the hall... I think he's right behind me," Raven answered.

"I'm here," Dexter wheezed, setting down his own boxes. "I should probably go check if Daring's okay."

"Oh, he'll be fine," Darling grinned, beginning to unbox her various supplies. "You know how he's been about 'proving his heroicism' lately... _you_ can help me start shelving these swords, since you actually remember sword taxonomy." 

"All right," Dexter seemed outright relieved by this prospect.

"So," Raven began, "How was your summer?"

"Oh-- well, I guess _busy_ might be one word for it," Darling shook her head. "Since Daring and I wound up switching basically all of our classes, there was a lot to catch up on, and that's not even counting Dex's make-up practical exams. Thanks, by the way, for the General Villany notes... I have no clue how Daring would've passed otherwise!"

"No problem, I'm glad to lend a hand," Raven grinned, carefully, examining a pile of swords. "Though, Daring should probably know I won't be able to lend notes for this year... since I'm not taking General Villany anymore!"

"Thank fairy godmother!" Darling laughed, beginning to hang up her various sets of fashion-chainmail. "You're not the only one who's relieved they can choose their own destiny. In fact, since Dex isn't exactly crazy about some of the hero courses, I've been trying to get him to go off-script, too. What do you think, Raven?"

"Dexter Charming, Rebel?" Raven eyed him briefly. "I kinda like the sound of that."

"W-what? N-no, Raven, she's definitely just joking," Dexter nearly dropped the sword he was placing. "Besides, what would else would I even _do_?"

"You were pretty good at the whole evil laugh thing," Darling smiled slyly. "Even though you only had half a page of notes to go off of, I could've sworn you were going to hex us all to pieces!"

Dexter mumbled, "Well, maybe Raven just takes really good notes?"

"That's _definitely_ not it," Raven shook her head. "Everyone gets the same information, and some people have to re-take the Evil Laughter unit _twice_. This, I've got to hear, though."

"N-no, I'm not... well, I'm not going to pursue a _career_ in villany; I like the whole... being good thing," Dexter sputtered. "Anyways, like the notes said, it was basically all details. I set up a holoprojector on my Mirrorphone for some lighting effects, a little bit of dramatic music..."

"Oh hex, that's smart," Raven groaned, hitting herself in the forehead. "I wish _I'd_ thought of doing that for the final. Maybe I would've gotten better than a C in that class."

"It's all right," Darling assured. "A pass is a pass, _and_ you're no longer in the villany career path, so I'm sure it scarcely matters at all."

"I still would've needed it, since it's a prerequisite for Mysterious Prevarication I," Raven shrugged. "But mostly, I'm just glad I'm through with it."

"All right, that's the last of the swords," Dexter wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. "You're getting to be pretty popular, Darling, if this is how many gifts you got after _one summer_."

"A lot of knight companies want to recruit me," Darling nibbled her lip curiously, then shrugged. "I haven't the vaguest idea why they keep sending me swords in particular, though I _am_ grateful for them... I just wish they'd be a little more creative sometimes. Maybe a set of gauntlets would be nice... or a grappling hook. Oh! I have yet to give waraxes a try!"

"You're going to want to save that one for Advanced Heroics," Daring leaned against the doorframe, grinning. "I've heard some teachers do a unit on dueling with axes. Where did you want all this leg armor?"

"Shoe closet," Darling immediately answered, flinging open the door in question. "Anyways, Dex... I guess I should let you and Raven catch up for a bit. Thanks for the help, but you're free to go."

"Oh! Uh, if you're sure about it," Dexter managed a wonky smile. "Um. We were supposed to meet Maddie in Book End... right?"

"Her dad's tea shoppe," Raven agreed, and glanced strangely in Darling's direction, "You're totally _positive_ you're okay in here?"

"How can she not be? She has her big brother _Daring Charming_ as an assistant," Daring winked. "I'll hear all about it later, lil' bro."

Dexter and Raven exchanged a glance, then decisively shrugged and set away down the hall, bidding Daring and Darling a farewell. Book End was maybe an hour's walk away, and though Raven felt reasonably confident in her ability to, for example, teleport there, neither did she feel wholly at ease with using her powers in such a flashy manner. She was worried, perhaps, or self-conscious-- she disliked the thought that Dexter might think she was trying to show off.

"So," she began, a little awkwardly. Attempting to joke, "No chance of you ever transferring into villainous studies, huh?"

"Darling... exaggerated a little," he flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I like heroics, at least the logistical portion! But... I _did_ look into non-hero type careers for a while. It's just... well, there aren't any stories about princes who solve puzzles, or princes who don't go off on adventurous quests, and I don't really have the prerequisites for anything else. Except villany, I guess, but that's mostly because of my electives. Things like 'Hexonomy' and 'Science and Sorcery.'"

"I'm pretty amazed you _volunteered_ for those classes. I've got Hexonomy this year and even the online syllabus looks wicked hard," Raven shook her head, just barely able to fathom it. "Then again, I'm not much of a numbers person. You and Humphrey Dumpty are basically tech support for the whole school already... isn't there a career path for that, too?"

"Sort of... it's in Nursery Rhymes. Counting and Numerical Tales," Dexter scuffed his food against the pavement. "But my family's huge on the fairytale tradition destiny thing, there's no way I'd get the OK for it. Daring got a long MirrorMail about it from dad. Our parents haven't even _tried_ contacting Darling. Haha... it's kind of silly, I guess. That I'm still worried about what my parents will think even after all the crazy things that happened last year. Uh. Not crazy as in _bad_ crazy, but crazy as in... you know, things people don't normally expect? The, uh, _surprising_ kind of crazy?"

"The good kind of crazy, I hope," Raven smiled slightly. The back of her hand slightly nudged his as they walked.

"Yeah, definitely the good kind of crazy. Really... _unexpectedly_ good," Dexter coughed and desperately tried to change the subject. "So, um... have you talked to Apple lately? I'm asking for a friend. And, uh, by 'friend,' I mean 'sister.'"

"Finally! Someone else said it," Raven laughed, shaking her head. "I ran into her and Briar a little earlier today... I don't think they even exchanged hext messages all vacation. She and your sister, I mean... not she and Briar. I'm not really dead set on things like 'destined to be' or 'true love's kiss' or anything like that... that's more Cupid's area of expertise. But Apple... you should see the way she talks about her. She acts like she's in a walking dream."

"Yeah..." Dexter agreed quietly, familiar with exactly that sensation. "I mean, yeah, Darling's kind of like that, too... like, once, I caught her looking at Apple's MyChapter page. I mean... not like I have any _personal_ experience with that. But she was probably too nervous to send a friend request or a message... which is _definitely_ not like her. Daring's not all that observant, but even _he's_ noticed enough to start getting worried. We both are."

"I'm not saying that they have to get together, blah blah happily ever after, or anything like that," Raven sighed. "But seriously. Would it kill them to have _one_ actual conversation?"

"You know Darling... she's always been pretty stubborn," Dexter tucked his hands into his pockets. "And I guess she's made up her mind that Apple's upset about the whole thing? I'm not sure I really get it."

"I lived with Apple the whole semester after the Dragon Games," Raven tisked, "And I think she was more confused than upset. Darling's my friend, too... it's kind of awkward that they're avoiding each other like this, and it's getting wicked frustrating. At the same time, though, I royally hate the idea of meddling-- I mean, they're capable people. They should be able to work things out themselves."

"Maybe you could forward her the hotline for Cupid's radio show?" Dexter shrugged, smiling nervously. "I mean... not like I've ever used it myself, but what I hear a lot is that she gives pretty sound advice?"

Raven elbowed him, "Don't worry about it too much... I think _everyone's_ used Cupid's hotline. The problem is that Cupid was supposed to be an exchange student for one year only... you wouldn't know if she stuck around?"

"Oh! Um, yeah, actually. She was staying at school over the summer, too," Dexter pushed up his glasses. "She said something about how her transportation had some problems, so she might be transferring permanently, or at least staying on for another year. She seemed pretty happy about it, though... I think she and Darling had plans to be roommates this year."

"No way! Really?" an odd mishmash of emotions flickered across Raven's face briefly. "I hope nothing bad happened. Maybe if it's a magical problem, I can see if I can fix it. But all the same, I'm royally glad that she'll be around. Besides, at least Darling has _someone_ around who knows what she's doing."

"You and me both," Dexter smiled, wholly genuine, and though Raven most notedly did not swoon, it was a near thing in that moment.

"Oh, um, hey, that's... definitely the tea shoppe over there," she jerked her head in that direction, and wondered at how quickly the time had passed. "We probably shouldn't keep Maddie waiting."

"There you guys are!" Maddie popped her head out of the entryway and waved as if on cue. "Just in time for three-ses! After all, you and you and I make three, and wouldn't you know? Dad just finished icing a triple-cumulus chocolate cake!"

"Well," Dexter chuckled.  "We definitely don't want to miss that."

Raven winked back, "We definitely don't."


	3. Crumb Cake, Cupid, & a Charming (Kind Of) Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gossip mills, but rumors? They pour. (And so does cereal, if you ask Cupid on the matter.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whistles innocently while casually shoving the pet OC away*

C.A. Cupid had a particular method of applying lipstick, even for such casual events as the first day of classes. Her roommate, Darling Charming, had already finished getting fairest for the first day, favoring a bold mascara, some transparent lipgloss, and very little else-- and thus, she stood waiting as Cupid finished her exceedingly finicky application of liquid lipstick.

"You don't always have to wear it in that heart shape, you know," Darling chuckled.

Cupid wisely held off on commenting until her lipstick was finished drying-- that had been her mistake the first three times she'd redone it. Then, she spoke: "It's the first _real_ day back to school; I don't know if anyone else would recognize me without it. Especially since the original plan was for me to go back home this year..."

"I don't know about that... even in this school, you're pretty hard to forget," Darling smiled. "Come on, let's head to the castleteria before breakfast ends. We'll need all the energy we can get for the rest of the day."

"My morning looks pretty packed," Cupid pulled up her schedule on her Mirrorpad. "Spellcasting Ethics, Romance Throughout Fairytales, AP Fairy-Physics, History of Heroic Questing... and that's all before lunch!"

"Dexter said he signed up for AP Fairy-Physics... he only mentioned it once, but it sounds royally hard," Darling smiled. "I've never been very good at Che-myth-stry, though, so I bet you'll do great."

"Che-myth-stry is the perfect meeting of natural reactions and the myths of yore... it's the very epitome of what my dad's legend is all about," Cupid sighed dreamily. "And I get to take Fairy-Physics... with _Dexter_..."

Her imagination ran wild with her in that moment. The past summer had been like something out of her favorite romance films. for though the Charming siblings had been largely preoccupied with make-up classes and homework, the Wonderland students had been able to return home for the summer, and there were many, many hours where it had been only she and Dexter, together and alone (presumably, hours where Darling had been off teaching Daring about Damsel-in-Distressing). Just to be able to continue spending time with her crush sent her heart spiraling into a swoon.

"I'm sure he'll loan you his notes if you ask him," and with perfect, Charming-typical obliviousness, Darling rolled her eyes and hurried down the stairs. "Anyways, I think we're all in the same HoHQ class, so I'll come by afterwards to make sure you guys aren't too scared of the big bad Physics class. And if you are, I hope Giles Grimm forgives me-- I'm afraid I'm sworn to rescue all students-in-distress."

Cupid giggled, "I see! Well, I think it might be good if we conquered those fears on our own. And, while we're on the topic..."

"Cupid, no," Darling blushed. "I wouldn't know what to say!"

"Communication is the basis for every strong relationship," Cupid answered wisely. "A friend of mine taught me that honesty is the best policy... if it's what you true heart desires, then I think you should go for it."

"It's just... I've always had a little bit of a crush on her. What if that's what flipped the script?" Darling bit her lip. "Besides... even though I thought it was just CPR, it's rude and inconsiderate to outright kiss someone without their permission. And though I'm far from a damsel-in-distress, I still think being polite is royally important. I just... haven't figured out how to apologize yet."

"How about something along the line of, 'sorry I didn't come talk to you earlier?'" Cupid suggested. "Or maybe, 'I was confused about the consequences of my actions, can we talk about it?' However you feel, you should find a way to express it."

"That's not really the easiest thing in the world for me," Darling rubbed her arm awkwardly. "My mom always said, 'a Charming princess is meant to be seen, not heard' and 'a truly Charming princess expresses her opinion only by gently supporting others.' She was _very_ adamant that I lived by that tradition. I guess I must be really, really out-of-practice with the whole..."

"Conversation thing?" Cupid suggested. "Now is as good a time as any to learn how to express what you really feel. Even if you're not very good with words, you can always try showing it with your actions. Like holding the door open for them, or sharing something you both enjoy..."

"I understand most of that, but I'm afraid the greatest difficulty is in beginning the conversation," Darling shook her head. "I can't just waltz up to someone all of a sudden, and just completely, out of nowhere--"

And then: blessed, blessed serendipity. Cupid could not have asked for a more fitting interruption to those words.

"Um," Apple coughed awkwardly from where she stood waiting outside the castleteria. "Hi."

Apparently, Cupid beamed, it _was_ as simple as waltzing up to someone completely out of nowhere.

"Oh, Apple," Darling smiled nervously. "Hi... long time no see."

"Did you, um, maybe want to eat breakfast with me?" Apple anxiously smiled back. "I bought some extra apple-crumb coffee cake in Book End yesterday and I thought you'd-- well, I mean, of course, there's plenty for three..."

"Well, you know I'd love to," Cupid grinned, her matchmaker's heart joyous at the opportunity presented. "But I kind of promised Blondie I'd have breakfast with her this morning. We were roommates last year, and I've been dying to catch up with her. I'm totally, _totally_ sure Darling doesn't have any plans, though. You guys go on ahead... better not let that cake go to waste!"

Darling's expression remained unchanged, but her eyes, alarmed, flickered in Cupid's direction. Cupid gave her a less-than-subtle nudge, a silent _go for it!_

"I, um. Yes! I mean, _no_ , I don't have any plans for breakfast today," Darling clarified. She attempted a smile, "And _yes_ , I would be honored to eat breakfast with you."

"I'll see you in History of Heroic Questing," Cupid muffled a chuckle as she departed, quickly snagging a bowl of her favorite cereal and sliding in next to Blondie Lockes.

"Hey, Cupid, I wasn't expecting to see you this morning," Blondie smiled over her porridge, neither too hot nor too cold. "How was your summer? Any new gossip?"

"Summer was good... as far as gossip goes, the story is that I'm in the process of transferring here for real, instead of just the exchange student thing," Cupid answered, taking a bite of her breakfast. "And... don't look now, but I've been doing a little matchmaking. I really hope you don't mind, but I told them I had breakfast plans with you so they'd be alone."

"Hmmm..." Blondie's eyes discreetly scanned the crowd. "No clues as to who it is?"

"Sorry, Blondie," Cupid shook her head. "You know my rules. My lips are sealed until it's official."

"I hope it's easy, at least, to make a cute-couple portmanteau of their names," Blondie giggled. "Huntlynn was _such_ a good one, but Apple and Daring, back when they were almost but not really a thing... I never could come up with one that was _just right_."

"Being in love and dating isn't just about the couple name," Cupid stirred her cereal. "It's about the path of romance that leads, ultimately, to your one true love."

"Ooh! Are you sure you won't give me even the teeniest, tiniest hint?" Blondie bounced her knee. "It isn't every day you hear _the_ Cupid tell you that a relationship's going to be OTP tier!"

"O. T. P...?" Cupid questioned, dubious of the terminology.

"One True Pairing," Blondie explained. "You know, ride-or-die, forever-together, true love ever after? That couple where, when you look at them, you simply  _know_  they're just right for each other!"

"I mean... the magic of love isn't exactly that simple," Cupid tried to wrap her mind around it. "But, well, now that you mention that description..."

"It's a yes, isn't it?" Blondie fairly squealed. "Even if I never find out who it is-- and that's a pretty big _if_ , if you don't mind my saying so-- just knowing that you believe there's an OTP-tier couple right here in this school gives me shivers! You'll give me an interview when I do a report, right?"

" _If_ you do a report, you mean?" Cupid smiled.

" _When_ I do a report," Blondie corrected. "You've got a talent for seeing these things, you know... even though I hate to admit it, you were _just right_ about Apple and Daring basically breaking up. They were one of my big OTPs, too. Part of me still can't believe that he's not her fairytale prince."

"What does the other part of you say?" Cupid asked. "Search deep in your heart."

"Well, the other part of me is saying that Daribella is _such_ a just-right couple name!" Blondie sighed dreamily. "I can't wait until it's official!"

"Not exactly what I was going for, but as long as you don't report anything that's still unofficial, I suppose thinking they're cute together is harmless enough," Cupid laughed. "Anyways, I should probably head to class before I'm late."

"All right, I'll hext you later with details about my report on Cupid: Transferring to Ever After for Good," Blondie spread her hands before her as if she could envision the blog post already. "Now _that's_ a great back-to-school Mirrorcast!"

Cupid dropped off her empty bowl and used spoon at the castleteria's used-dishes pile and hastened away to Spellcasting Ethics-- a class that was mandatory for all good-aligned and at-least-occasionally-good-aligned fairytale characters with control over great and mysterious powers. And no power, thought Cupid, was more powerful or mysterious than the force of _love_.

Farrah Goodfairy and Melody Piper, of course, were there as always, but there were certainly plenty of new faces, as well... not the least of which included Raven Queen, who wanted to put her knowledge of evil magic to work for good, and Faybelle Thorne, who at least seemed _determined_ to give less-evil-but-decidedly-ambiguous morality an attempt. Courtly Jester, naturally, had chosen the class as part of her reformation curriculum, though card tricks, games of chance, and general all-around Wonderland magic were typically exempt (being not merely mysterious but utterly incomprehensible to a non-Wonderlander).

And then, as Cupid's eyes darted across the room, she realized there was one other person-- someone who was definitely, decidedly _new_ around here.

"Oh, hey, Cupid!" Raven waved at her, looking up from her conversation with the new kid. "I didn't know you took this class!"

"Hi, Raven," she smiled back, taking a nearby seat. "You know how love magic can get... Headmaster Grimm practically ordered me to sign up for this class after the whole 'heartstruck' incident last year."

"I guess that makes sense," Raven nodded. She gestured to the new kid, "Celadon, right? This is my friend, Cupid. She's a transfer student, too, sort of."

"Um, West, actually," he withdrew his hand from his coat pocket to offer her a handshake. "Celadon's my first name, but I prefer to use the family name. I'm originally from Emerald City Academy."

"Don't worry about it, West. My first name's actually _Chariclo_ ," Cupid chuckled. "I was an exchange student last year, but I'm transferring over full-time now. I love it here at Ever After; I'm sure you will, too!"

"It's definitely more diverse than I'm used to, especially since... well, at my old school, we _all_ had the same story," West shrugged, tucking a strand of long hair over his ear. "That's actually kind of why I'm here now, actually... Raven, what you did on your school's Legacy Day went all over the MirrorNet. It really inspired the rest of us who were unsatisfied with our stories to try flipping the script, too! Except... they didn't take that so well at ECA. I got a little bit... expelled for it."

"Expelled?" Raven looked taken aback. "That's a little... extreme, isn't it?"

"Even when things got really crazy here at EAH, I don't think _anyone_ got outright expelled," Cupid creased her brow.

"I had detention during study hall every day for a week, and Baba Yaga had me go to student advisory meetings every other week ever afterwards," Raven shook her head. "But not expelled."

West shrugged, "Headmaster Oz-- you know, also being the 'Great and Powerful Wizard'-- rules his school like his kingdom. Your school faculty seem pretty reasonable by comparison. And nobody's so much as blinked twice at me since I got here, which is a relief."

Cupid exchanged a brief look with Raven.

"Um... _should we_ be blinking twice?"

West turned his head, confused, "Well... because, you know. I'm... _green_. Even at ECA, where half the students are talking Animals, that's still pretty unusual."

"Oh, that? I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Raven chuckled. "We have a classmate who regularly turns into a frog, and _way_ weirder things than that."

"At _my_ old school," Cupid winked conspiratorially, "Almost everyone was at least _partially_ green."

"Hey, that reminds me," Raven turned to her curiously. "Cupid, I never got to ask... where _did_ you go to school before EAH?"

"Oh! Well, um, what do you know? Looks like class is starting," she hastily changed the subject, and with perfect, serendipitous timing, their slightly-late professor made her appearance, immediately commandeering a student to pass out the worksheets and syllabuses for the first day.

Cupid, naturally, volunteered.

Technically forbidden from speaking about Monster High-- on the grounds of 'potential universal decay, and not the good kind of decay'-- it was certainly difficult to express her concerns among her friends, particularly considering that she did, indeed, miss her old friends as well.  Vagaries, she supposed, were fair game-- similar to the broad sweeps she'd employed when describing that morning's events between Apple and Darling to Blondie. But Headmistress Bloodgood had been absolutely clear on the matter: no mentions, descriptions, or even allegorical communications about Monster High to the other students.

Since the portal she was meant to be taking home never appeared, Cupid wasn't even sure there _was_ a Monster High to go back to anymore. She guessed she was probably luckier than most would have been in her situation-- Mount Olympus, at least, straddled the two realms, and she was still yet capable of MirrorPhoning her dad.

Still, as Cupid re-took her seat, she couldn't help but feel the oddest sense of foreboding about this new year at Ever After High.

Maybe it was the fact that a quiz was _already_ marked out on her syllabus, less than a week away.

* * *

Dexter Charming had a good feeling about the new school year and, after the summer he'd had, he _definitely_ needed it.

Crownculus II, of course, had been a royal treat to start off the morning. There had been a little bit of a pop quiz-- "Not graded, merely to gauge what you have forgotten this summer," their professor explained-- but Dexter had the information well in hand, and fairly fresh in his memory as he'd spent a fair deal of time re-teaching Daring that summer. In his personal opinion, there were few things better than beginning the day with a few questions regarding the velocity of Jack falling down a hill versus Jill who came tumbling after, and when (if ever) they would theoretically collide. Better yet, his answer had been so thorough that the professor had offered him two points of extra credit on the next test!

In Heroics 103, his second class of the day, he'd even been fairly impressed by how large an improvement he'd over the summer after actually managing to _pass_ the start-of-school obstacle course refresher. He did sort of regret that Daring, having fulfilled more than enough Heroics requirements for his career path, wasn't around to see (and, probably, outdo) his success, but Darling gave him a wave and a thumbs up from across the field, where Heroics 102 was doing their own obstacle course.

(They'd both be able to boast those accomplishments: Dexter, having gotten through the obstacle course without his usual mishap, and Darling, having held the best time in her class. Maybe Daring was doing better than expected in Damsel-in-Distressing, too-- maybe it was a Charming kind of day.)

A quick trip to his locker, and then it was off to AP Fairy-Physics, the first ever class to be taught by Giles Grimm, smiling in his own mysterious manner as he carefully presented their first lesson on the many, many forces at work in their universe. He could already tell it was going to be a pretty quick-paced class, but Dexter always loved a challenge.

(It most certainly helped that he shared this class with Raven Queen, who even waved to him at the start of class and sat in the seat just to his right.)

"I hope they let us pick lab partners in this class," Raven smiled, slinging her bag over her shoulder once it was over. "Some of Professor Rumplestiltskin's assigned partners were major fairy-fails."

"Oh, um, I guess some of them were," Dexter answered, hurrying after her. "I mean, for some weird reason, Cupid and I wound up being lab partners a lot-- maybe because both of our last names start with the same letter. She's usually a great lab partner, but I always feel bad for whoever gets stuck with Sparrow."

"Maybe you're just lucky," Raven chuckled. "I was kinda hoping, though, you and I could be lab partners more than once this year. I mean... since we did so well on that one potions project we had together? Though, I guess you're probably way more used to working with Cupid..."

"No! I mean, _yes_ , that potions project was a total success," Dexter clarified, pushing up his glasses. "And _no_ , I didn't really have anyone in mind as a lab partner yet. So, uh, I guess the answer is... yes, it would be great to be lab partners again. With you, I mean. For this class."

"Oh! Speaking of class," Raven swiped her MirrorPhone to her schedule, "What class do you have next? I've got History of Heroic Questing."

"Hey, me too!" Dexter smiled, trying very hard not to seem like he was trying too hard. "I, um... mandatory history class?"

"It sounded like the most interesting one on the list," Raven agreed, almost bumping into someone as she stepped into the hall.

"Raven! Dex!" Darling looked between them, "There you guys are!"

"Hey, Darling," Raven nodded. "What's up?"

"I'm just here to make sure the big, bad physics class didn't scare my friends too much," Darling winked. "Is Cupid still in there? I promised to wait for her, too."

"I'm here," Cupid carefully nudged her way out of the classroom. "Sorry I'm late! Professor Giles had had a _lot_ of us waiting to ask extra questions."

"Talk about ridiculous. And as your local expert in ridiculousness, I know ridiculous when I see it!" Maddie giggled, popping into the picture upside-down, hanging off the nearest locker (obviously because there was no room for her to fit though the doorway, and where else could she have gone?).

"Oh! Excuse me, sorry," Apple stumbled out next. "Goodness, there are a lot of people here... um! Darling. Hi. I didn't see you there."

"We should, um, get going to class," Darling smiled back, toying with the ends of her hair as if tempted to flip it. "I'll... see you at lunch?"

"Sounds spelltacular," Apple replied, flushing nearly as red as her namesake. "I'll just... go to my locker now!"

Raven concealed a note of fond laughter and waved her friend away, Darling by far too visibly flustered to do so herself. 

"So... 'I'll see you at lunch?' Does that mean breakfast was a success?" Cupid hid her own grin.

"Wait," Dexter began. "What's this about breakfast?"

"There's nothing to tell, really," Darling flushed. "She bought some extra coffee cake yesterday and was kind enough to share it with me. Of course I wished to return the favor by treating her to lunch, as well. Wouldn't any well-mannered prince or princess do that?"

"Oh, I know the answer for this one," Maddie postulated with a grin. "What matters in the manner in which you present your manners makes them well, and thus, only engaging in this manner for the sake of manner would make it without manners, or, in summation, two and two is fish or four or four fish, and therefore, more than mannered."

Raven shook her head fondly, "You're speaking Riddlish again, Maddie. Do you have a translation for the rest of us?"

"Am I? Whoopsie-daisy," Maddie giggled. "It means that the meaning of your manners are in the manner you mean them. Why, that's just basic manners!"

"That makes even less sense than before!"

Cupid interjected, "What she _means_ is that you didn't offer to treat her to lunch _only_ to be polite."

"You know," Dexter furrowed his brows after mulling on it for a while. "I could be wrong, but that sounds kind of like a... date."

"Maybe because it is?" Raven suggested.

"I don't know yet," Darling reddened further. "And, well, would you look at the time? We'd... better hurry to class!"

"Class still isn't for another five minutes," Raven glances at her MirrorPhone. "You know. So students can get books from their lockers?"

"Yes! We should _definitely_ all go to our lockers," Darling agreed enthusiastically... perhaps _too_ enthusiastically.

"Why, that's silly! The online syllabus said we'd only need MirrorPads on the first day... and look!" Maddie popped up, gesturing enthusiastically to a door. "We're already outside the classroom!"

"Oh... well, look at that," Darling chuckled nervously. She glanced from side to side, as if seeking an escape route. "Maybe I should... go fix my make-up!"

Dexter gave her a dubious look, and she was reminded that Headmaster Grimm had seen to telling her brothers all about her terrible attendance record-- due to those many, many times she'd cut class. She'd been forgiven for last year, as she'd done it in order to masquerade as the White Knight, which was ultimately her real destiny. There was no doubt that he would not be so forgiving twice.

"Or... Daring's in this class, right? I'll go borrow his spare pocket-mirror," Darling hastened in, smiling too-innocently. Either way, they'd all been distracted from Raven's question-- Darling counted it as good as a win.

At least until Cupid's casual greeting: "Oh, hey, Apple, I didn't know you were in this class too!"

"Well," Apple replied, "I thought I should try to learn as much about quest history as I can... As queen of Ever After, even my mom has had to give out the occasional quest."

Raven chuckled, "You could've just walked here with us from Fairy-Physics."

"I just wanted to put away my other books first, just in case," Apple answered, and indeed she had put away all of her books save the required MirrorPad. "A good queen is always prepared."

Raven raised one of her eyebrows, "Like if you needed to leave here immediately after class?"

"Anyways," Cupid interjected, "We should probably all go take our seats."

And as Dexter most carefully ascended the lecture hall stairs, he gave Daring a wave from across the room. Though it was a rare occasion, he glanced up from his MirrorPhone long enough to notice Dexter's greeting, and offered a half-smile and a wave back. He didn't _seem_ traumatized by his first-ever Damsel-In-Distressing class, and so Dexter guessed that it must have gone at least marginally okay. Maybe he'd gotten to spend the class brushing his hair, which was a class activity Darling loved to complain about.

Speaking of his sister, he directed his attention in her direction and was most relieved to see that, though their conversation still seemed a little stilted and awkward, Darling was at least _talking_ to Apple now. And, if Dexter had to be completely honest, he was pretty sure Darling was even handling the situation _gracefully_ for someone whose one true love had been sprung upon them as a complete surprise. More gracefully than Dexter would have, at least.

As he watched Darling scramble over herself to offer Apple the seat next to her, Dexter suddenly became aware of a pale hand casually (accidentally?) brushing against his own wrist, and realized abruptly that Raven was still walking next to him. _Raven Queen_ had followed him to find a seat.

"They're kind of cute together, aren't they?" she grinned, jerking her head in their friends' direction. "In a sort of... awkward way."

"A good kind of awkward," Dexter agreed, taking his seat-- purposefully, one which had an empty spot right next to it.

Raven sat down a moment later, "Yeah, definitely the good kind. I think it just means... they _care_."

Dexter smiled back, and as the next class began, he did indeed believe it from the bottom of his heart-- this year was shaping up to be an _excellent_ year.

A very... _Charming_ kind of year.


	4. Pasts Are Like Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They haunt your every step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch me at least attempt to salvage the headmaster's character

Little did the students of Ever After High know what cruel portend was to fall upon their school-- nay, their entire world, from the Giants at Beanstalk High to the tiniest choir Munchkin at Emerald City Academy. Dr. West, formerly "The Wicked Witch," carefully stirred the basin of water before her with a long-nailed finger.

Contrary to popular belief, witches could only melt _once_. And Dr. West had been intelligent enough to devise a spell to unmelt herself after she'd safely seeped through the grating in her fortress floor. Planning ahead paid, when you were a villain who wished to survive your tale.

The basin rippled in the moonlight of her office, and then, once it settled-- a face appeared in the water. MirrorChat, she thought-- it was a good thing there was backwards compatibility for the program. Though her son, of course, could not use the Mirrors of old until after he'd melted, the Professor West found that she preferred them, if only to prove that she had mastered her weakness to water entirely.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing working?" Baba Yaga's eye looked up at her from the pool. "Wicked West, is that you?"

"Baba Yaga," a smile spread across her green face. "I was hoping you would have a moment to chat tonight."

"What matter did you wish to speak of, friend?" Baba Yaga sat back, appearing all-solemn. "I can't imagine you called to reminisce on old times."

"As much as I'd love to talk about how we tormented our professors at school," Wicked West pursed her lips. "I am afraid we cannot. My scrying turned up some... alarming results. My calculations of magiphysical mathematics are in concurrence with this plausibility. I sent the results to Goodfairy; hopefully she'll have something conclusive on the matter by tomorrow. The foolish woman won't let me mention them in official context until the _peer review_... I swear, you follow your story like a _good little villain_ and ever afterwards, everything you say is in doubt. Unquestionably, she'll get all of the credit for _my_ discovery."

"We did love to stir up mischief in the days of old," Baba Yaga sighed, as if yearning for that time. "But now we are the professors-- I can't help but think it's karma at work. Nonetheless! If you are unable to announce your discovery to me, then, what purpose is your call? I would be glad to complain of the how heavily the scholars of magic and science rely on Professor Goodfairy, except I am afraid her niece attends my school. You know she would eagerly take me to court over classroom bias against young Farrah."

"You would deserve it," Wicked chuckled darkly. "Fifty-three! Fifty-three blackberry pies! Not even fairy magic can remove so much staining."

"The title of class Valedictorian was rightfully mine," Baba Yaga sniffed. "She got what was coming to her. I almost wish you would tell me your findings just to spite her _unsolicited_ orders."

"Well," Wicked smirked, "She said I could not declare my findings officially. But it is a _very_ urgent discovery, and perhaps it might... slip out of me, after a night of a little darkfairy-wine, while I happen to be speaking to an old friend in a _purely_ casual, coincidental MirrorChat?"

"Oh, you _are_ wicked," Baba Yaga chuckled, shaking her finger at her.

"I may be 'officially' reformed, but I can occasionally manage a little bout of nastiness," a chuckle before her tone became solemn again, "Listen well to these words, old friend, for it is not a short tale. Your students may need to know-- sooner than anticipated. Do not say I have not given you fair warning..."

* * *

There was a strange sense of foreboding that settled over the school that night. Maddie should have known-- she was an expert in all things strange.

The only thing that she couldn't pinpoint about the matter was what variety of _strange_ the feeling was indeed. Certainly not the Wonderlandiful, slightly-scary-but-ultimately-exciting "strange" that most folks around here seemed to ascribe to unusual events (though, in Maddie's opinion, this variety of strangeness was downright normal). Then, there was the kind of evil, dark strangeness that had come over their land numerous times before-- the Spring Fairest, the Dragon Games, the Epic Winter. Maddie lingered on that thought for a while, but ultimately decided that though the sensation was vaguely similar, it was in fact not the same (which, mind you, was a strangeness within itself).

And so, when she met up with Raven Queen after her second lesson of the day-- General Wondering, a class that had been adapted for Wonderland students in EAH-- these were the first words to spill from the mouth of Madeline Hatter:

"Is it just you, or has the right been moved two inches to the left, and the left been moved half a centimeter south?"

"I think the saying is 'is it just me,' Maddie," Raven chuckled.

"Oh, good, and here I was worrying that I was the only person who'd noticed it," Maddie beamed, and Raven didn't have the heart to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Now that you mention it, something does feel a little off," Raven joked. "I think the school gossip mill might be running five or six times its normal speed."

"Hmmm..." Maddie tapped her chin. "No, the feeling isn't so much 'Apple and Darling had a date yesterday and now the whole school is gossiping about it' strange, though it's not quite the sort of 'Evil Queen is on the loose and everyone should run for their lives' strange, either."

Raven checked her MirrorPhone, "Well, if we're not in any kind of danger, we'd better get to class. The lesson in Fairy-Physics today is supposed to be majorly important-- half of our midterm, I think."

Maddie could practically feel her hat whistling, "Oooh! That's right... class is at eleven o'clock. I've forgotten elevenses!"

"Maybe Professor Giles will let you have tea during the lesson," Raven suggested, as the two of them hastened down the hall and into their Fairy-Physics class.

If things had seemed strange outside of the classroom, Maddie thought, things were triple-strange inside the classroom. There was something in that room that wasn't _quite exactly_ Ever After High.

Still, she took her usual seat-- not that she was given to sitting in one particular place all the time, but this seat _did_ seem to like her ever so much-- directly behind Raven, who sat next to Dexter, who sat in front of Cupid. Or, she mused, perhaps it was the other way around: Cupid who sat behind Dexter who sat next to Raven who sat in front of Maddie. Why, she realized, this meant she and Cupid were, indeed, sitting next to _each other_.

And it was only good manners, when one was unable to restrain oneself from a delicious cup of tea, to share a cup or two with those around you. And one couldn't very well share tea with those around oneself without sharing tea with those around those around you! (An opinion that Maddie seemed exceedingly pleased that this particular narrator happened to share.)

She began pouring steaming mugs for everyone in the classroom without a second thought, pulling forth from her hat a regular smorgasbord of scones and light biscuits.

"Maddie!" Apple seemed visibly surprised at the mug that had been shoved into her hands.

"Oh!" Raven seemed visibly surprised, but also pleased by the tea. She had long since learned to take such things in stride. "Um, thanks!"

"Aw, gort," Dexter coughed, having failed to catch his cup as it came hurtling towards him, tea steaming from his hair.

"Oh, my!" Farrah accepted the cup, and silently, as best as she could, spelled away as much of the spilled tea as possible.

Humphrey Dumpty hid under his desk until the tea was at last poured, and only peered up when there was no chance of it falling on him. Alistair directed a faintly amused look at her, and gratefully took not one cup, but _two_ , exchanging the tea with Maddie in a Wonderlandian form of etiquette that left him most pleasantly with his one cup. The new kid (West?) at least looked pleased enough to be included at all, and Ginger Breadhouse-- once she'd gotten over the shock of a surprise tea party-- graciously accepted her tea and even had a few boxes of cupcakes to contribute to the tea party.

"I happened to be coming from Cooking Class-ic," she grinned, and Maddie beamed back.

"They're just what we needed!" Maddie cheered, and handed over yet another cup to C.A. Cupid.

"Wow... thank you. I'm confused, but thank you," Cupid smiled, and took a warm sip from the teacup. "What are you doing this for, Maddie?"

"Everything feels a liiiiiiittle funny today," Maddie explained, gesticulating with her fingers. "Which is a big difference, you know, from how it usually feels much funnier! And as my dad says: 'there's nothing that can't be solved by a warm drink and biscuits!' Maybe we can get back to _hextremely_ funny if we keep this up! Besides... it's elevenses!"

"Elevenses?" Raven asked curiously.

"Why, yes! Because you and me and the class makes ten people," Maddie nodded sagely.

"Elevenses usually includes ten people?" A dubious tone.

"Why, of course not, silly!" Maddie giggled, and turned to the door, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. " _The Professor_ makes eleven!"

Giles Grimm entered the room, then, five minutes late-- more worn and disorderly than he looked usually, as if something incredibly heavy had been lain across his shoulders.

"Madeline Hatter?" he glanced down at her, perplexed.

"Professor Giles!" she smiled, looking younger and brighter than ever. "You're just in time for morning tea!"

"Well," he hesitated for a second. Then, accepted the cup. "Today's lesson is important, indeed. But I have known _nothing_ of such import that it could not wait five minutes for tea. Do not tarry-- there is much ground I must cover today. More ground than we have ever before expected."

The professor's unexpected solemnity was contagious, and it was only with a quiet murmur of chatting that they concluded their tea, despite Maddie's best assurances that morning tea need not be quiet to be short. Why, she herself had tea sixteen times a day, most occurrences of which scarcely a handful of moments! Indeed, in the five minutes Giles Grimm had given them, Maddie had taken tea thrice already.

Her classmates were somewhat slower, and as the lights dimmed, Cupid-- the last to finish her tea-- quietly passed the empty teacup over to her neighbor.

"Now, then," Giles Grimm cleared his throat. "Let me tell you a tale, students... one that strikes at the heart of Ever After High and its purpose here in this realm..."

> _Once upon a time, before there were ever fairytales, before there were any living things, before even the dust of the worlds had come into being, there were the Elements. You will know of them from your Che-myth-stry courses, substances such as gold, dragon fire, Herculaneum. But particles of magical elements, as listed on the left of the Elemental Table, found that they did not agree with the particles on the right-- the non-magical elements as we know them._
> 
> _Within the infinitely dense, solitary point where all of these Elements existed at once, magical and non-magical elements made and unmade each other. It was for this reason that, though their source was rather like a location of infinite mass, the area they took up was so small as to be wholly nonexistent. But one day, the smallest particles of all-- Pixie Dust, of the magical elements, and Hydrogen, of the mundane-- decided that, rather than reduce each other to nothing, they would join into one being. And for their choice to form friendships instead of invent enemies, they were together able to free the magical and non-magical elements from their bound, and with a vast explosion, the seed of the universe came into being._

"Professor Grimm," Ginger raised her hand when he gave pause. "Is that how the universe really came into being?"

"It is, admittedly, a simplified version of the events," Giles Grimm agreed. "But a true version nonetheless."

Farrah raised her hand. "I have an aunt who works at the Fairies' College... several years ago, she mentioned something like this. Something that was only a theory."

"The brilliant Professor Goodfairy is indeed the source of much of this information," Giles nodded. "And in a paper published only last spring... scryings by the uppermost members of the magical community have proven it true. As the tale says..."

> _The seed of the universe began to grow into a strong, formidable tree, spreading its branches throughout time and space. Each place where an Element made a differing choice, another branch sprouted off from the original one, ultimately creating another world parallel to the first one. A thousand branches grew, and then a million, and then more until they became uncountable ever after. And then, the choices of living beings, magical and mundane-made both-- these choices would create even new branches, running along beside each other, parallel in time._
> 
> _But, students, beware-- for like the boughs of a tree, these timelines can sicken or wither just as certainly as any other branch. They are as prone to illness and breakage and vulnerability as any tree we see upon the grounds we walk. And though the tree itself is immortal, yet to meet a universal storm that can cause it to fall entirely... so, too, for the survival of all, the branches that are contaminated with illness must be dropped that the rest of the tree may survive._

Apple-- hesitantly, but hesitantly-- raised her hand. When Professor Grimm called on her, she still hesitated yet more before speaking: "I've... heard a version of this story before. It's in a big, old book in my home library."

"I have been told that the tale survives somewhere in some of the most ancient libraries," Giles nodded solemnly. "And we are only just now re-discovering it, and finding where it is true."

"The rest of the tale!" Panic overtook Apple's eyes as surely as realization. "Is it true, too?"

 "I am afraid it is thus," he spoke-- apologetic but certain. "Academia has re-discovered what had been done a thousand generations hence... the source of our fairytale legacy. The true purpose of the Storybook of Legends."

> _For the world in which we live now grew sick and ill, having taken a fatal path. A great error had been made by one of your fairytale ancestors, though it is lost to history as to whom. The Queen of all the lands went to her friend, a great and wise sorceress of unforetold power and beauty. She knew not the source of this danger, only that her world would crumble to the ground, into nothingness, and that the branch of her timeline would come to a halt, nevermore to reach its nonexistent end._
> 
> _The wise sorceress knew that to save their world from crumbling away, to ensure any sort of a future at all would require a large, hefty sacrifice. She warned the Queen that it would be a cost paid in blood for generations to come. And the Queen agreed, with all of her heart, to ensure that there would be any future generations at all. She volunteered to be the first sacrifice, and the wise sorceress claimed her life, and her throne, and with them writ the first-ever story of Snow White-- but driven with remorse for having killed her dearest friend, she writ herself in as an usurper, a cruel and vain woman. An Evil Queen._

"Professor Goodfairy spent many years trying to recreate the Library of Alexandria, lost many years ago," Giles Grimm shook his head. "We have taken this information directly from the original Spell of Sacrifice found within those long-lost tomes. Dozens of scholars have since seen it, and only through the runic translation work of Dr. West in the University of Oz have we been able to comprehend the contents of the scroll in its entirety. They and their colleagues are persuaded of its truth-- as are most of the faculty of Ever After."

Raven's mouth fell open, "The compulsion spell. My mom always said it was a compulsion spell."

"No mere compulsion spell has a pull so strong," Giles Grimm exhaled. "You will remember the equation for pseudogravitational binding from the class last week?"

"Of course..." Humphrey Dumpty seemed to come across an epiphany, "By using the mass of the stories, and spinning them larger and larger throughout the generations, the force generated from such magical bonds would put the timeline back together again!"

The puzzle pieces seemed to click together in Alistair's mind, "I have a question, professor."

"Yes, Mr. Wonderland?"

"If the Storybook tradition was the only thing keeping the timeline together back then," Alistair began. "Now that the Storybook is gone... what's holding our timeline together _now_?"

Giles Grimm swallowed. He had braced himself for this question-- and now it was time to give his answer.

" _Nothing_ is holding it together, Alistair. Nothing anymore. Our world is falling apart as we speak."

Terror struck the students' hearts before panic did-- the room fell silent.

Raven pushed herself from her chair, "I have to see Headmaster Grimm."

Maddie attempted to follow her friend, "Raven--"

"I'm sorry, Maddie. You are my _best friend_ ," Raven stressed. "But I have to see Headmaster Grimm. And I have to do it alone."

She swept from the room, leaving her classmates bereft. Maddie, with a little bit of a shudder, realized what that feeling of _strangeness_ had been, that morning. It had not been the right shifting two inches left, nor the left shifting half a centimeter South. It had been the sensation of their entire world, all that ever was and all that ever would be, slowly sliding away from the heart of all realms, doomed to fall upon the ground like a dying branch-- kersplat!

And so, in that Ravenless, somber classroom, Maddie did the only thing she could think of.

"My dad says that tea makes everything feel better," Maddie solemnly pronounced. She began to pour steaming hot mugs of hale, hearty tea, encouraging her dormouse Earl Grey to deliver them. "And in the event it doesn't... at least a hot drink makes everything feel a teeny-tiny itty-bitty-bit less bad!"

Everyone, this time, accepted the tea with little mirth, but even then could they take solace in the comfort so simple a consolation offered. Dexter quietly stared at his teacup and stirred, nodding at the others only in faint acknowledgement. Cupid quietly realized the reason why she had lost contact with her original home, for Ever After was falling away from the realms.

Professor Giles Grimm gave all of them passes to skip their next class with the simple excuse of: _teatime_.

* * *

Headmaster Milton Grimm, in anticipation of his brother's third-period Fairy-Physics class, spent the morning pacing his office.

There had been some attempt to complete paperwork-- at the very minimum, to write Professor Goodfairy and thank her for the access to her publications-- but the Headmaster had given that up roughly halfway through first period classes, unable to choke out more than a few sentences of gratitude. There was no tactful way, he discovered, to say "thank you for informing us about our impending doom, please enjoy this fruit basket before our world falls into nonexistence."

He had already arranged for Ms. Trollsworth to order the good professor a fruit basket, and wondered if perhaps his letter would be easier to write if he didn't mention it.

Instead, he'd spent the morning pacing, wondering which student it would be to first express outrage, determination, shock-- any of the above, really-- at their morning's lesson.

Really, he thought, he should have expected Raven Queen.

"Let her in, Ms. Trollsworth," the Headmaster sighed, absolutely dreading this conversation.

"Headmaster Grimm, whatever it is you're trying to do with this... this _class thing_ ," Raven scowled her way in. "You've got to stop it, it's _scaring my friends_. If you're trying to make me _feel bad_ for not signing the Storybook on Legacy Day, or whatever, then leave the rest of them out of it."

Grimm took a deep breath to collect himself. "Miss Queen. As much as I wish it were merely an event of my own invention... my brother, Giles, was the one to deliver you the news we have been collecting these past several weeks. Baba Yaga will vouch for it, also. Though it is true that these reasons are part of why I was so adamant you sign the book... what is done is done, and it is too late to change what has already cone to pass. And there is no time to waste on regretting it."

"Why didn't you say something before?" Raven furrowed her brow. "If I knew that _this_ was what was going to happen if I didn't sign the Storybook of Legends, I would've signed it in a _heartbeat_. My friends are going to be wiped from existence, as if they never came into being at all... and _nobody_ wants that for their friends."

"I will admit... I have long ascribed to the theory that the Storybook of Legends and the rituals of fairytale-acting have been what has kept our world in balance all these long years," the Headmaster looked down upon her solemnly. "But, too, I knew that it was only that-- a theory. I will be frank with you on this matter, Raven Queen... _if_ you can calm down and take a seat."

"You mean... you'll tell me the truth if I just sit down?" Raven eyed the chair suspiciously.

"I suppose I could also tell you the truth if you stand, but it is a long tale," Grimm frowned. "I _will_ warn you that your feet are apt to blister if you stand-- particularly in what you young folk call _shoes_ these days."

"Fine," Raven sat reluctantly. "But I want answers. Why didn't you just tell me what would happen before, on Legacy Day?"

"You must recall that this information is new, even among the foremost of magicians," the Headmaster explained, "I believed it as dangerous and foolish for you not to sign... but neither did I comprehend the full extent of these dangers that would come to pass. Until the Spell of Sacrifice was fully translated, it was the belief of the academic community that merely _one_ fairytale would fall out of existence for our failures to follow the rituals... but we have found, thanks to you, that it is not so instantaneous as poofing out of being, and nor is the process so simple."

"So I didn't sign the Storybook of Legends," Raven whispered. "And I doomed everything and every _one_."

"Do not ascribe yourself more importance than you are due, Miss Queen," the Headmaster tutted. "Indeed, if Apple White's claims are to be believed, you are the _only_ student in decades to have signed the original, true Storybook of Legends... the one which had been lost in Wonderland, for some unfathomable reason. Our realm has been hanging upon a dubious precipice longer than anyone can imagine... and it was _not_ the events of Legacy Day that triggered this downward spiral. You were not the first to go off-script, to intervene in stories where you do not belong."

"My mother was," Raven furrowed her brows in understanding. "She was the one who first hid the Storybook, and prevented people from signing... she was the one who started stealing the roles of other villains. She was the one who cast the unwritten curse on Wonderland."

"All those matters, I believe you shall find, have been largely resolved," Headmaster Grimm corrected. "But the break from tradition can never be wholly fixed... there may only be temporary grasps at futures that once were destinies that secured our realm's safety. I believed Giles, Baba Yaga, and I had achieved reasonable security by sequestering the Evil Queen in the Mirror Realm and replacing the Storybook of Legends with a near-identical artifice. A strong several generations of fairytale tradition, I believed, would make it as if nothing had ever happened."

"... until I didn't sign the Storybook of Legends," Raven sighed, burying her face in her hands. "Is it... fixable? We can still get everyone to follow their fairytale destinies... right? Can't we still make that choice?"

"The fairytales of old are gone. Irrevocably gone," Milton Grimm did his best not to show his despair. "There are no spell-written destinies any longer. They fell away just as soon as the heiress of Snow White's tale was woken not by a prince, but by a princess, when the script was re-written for damsels who do not distress, but rescue themselves. And there is no way to do what has been undone... save one."

"Anything," Raven said immediately. "I would do _anything_ to save my friends. To save our world and everyone in it."

"It is peculiar you should use those same words, Raven Queen," he glanced at her aside. "Those words the Queen of the Realms of long ago used to entreat her friend-- the Wise Sorceress who became the first Evil Queen. Perhaps, by signing the true Storybook of Legends, it is _her_ destiny of doing what must be done for the good of all that you have inherited, in lieu of the one of Evil she writ against her own nature."

Raven recognized that acceptance for what it was. "I would be honored to be anything along the lines of a _Wise Sorceress_ , just as long as I can do something to help."

"Then listen closely," the Headmaster acquiesced. "Previously, before Legacy Day, there had been two schools of thought: the first, which I have explained to you, was by far the more popular. But my brother Giles, and Dr. Wicked West of Oz both ascribed to a different philosophy-- the idea of Loop Theory, that any paths traveled to a far enough extent shall eventually lead to the correct destination. In other words, the _further_ we deviate from our stories, the more likely we are to bring our world back into balance and undo our grim fate."

"That sounds like Wonderland logic," Raven winced. "Does that... _work_ outside of Wonderland?"

"It is not a matter of working or not; we no longer have a choice between the two theories," the Headmaster asserted. "It is impossible to go back to what we once knew-- gone is the Age of the Royals, however much our esteemed leaders may wish to believe otherwise. Our fate lies solely in the Rebels, now, who made the choice for _all the land_  on Legacy Day last year. And you, Miss Queen, have ever been their leader."

Raven took a deep breath. _Wise Sorceress_ , she thought, and took comfort in the lack of 'Evil' in that title. Fairy Godmother, she hoped she had inherited even a smidge of that wisdom.

"Is it possible for me to get my hands on a copy of the Spell of Sacrifice?" she asked. "Maybe... some record of the original, and a copy of the translation?"

The Headmaster pulled a thick packet of papers from his desk. He called out, "Ms. Trollsworth, if you will, I require photocopies!"

Ms. Trollsworth popped her head in, took the package, and saluted before squaring her shoulders to wrestle with the photocopier-- every office worker's absolute nightmare, regardless of which universe they resided in. She almost preferred it when she was asked to make dragon-egg omelets.

"I'll see to it that those find their way to your dorm before curfew," Headmaster Grimm stood, and checked his watch. "We do not wish to cause widespread panic over this matter, Miss Queen... not until there is a better solution than merely sitting still and awaiting our dooms. I cannot expect you to keep altogether silent... but I advise discretion in the matter. I do not wish to see this in the MirrorBlogs until tomorrow morning, after Professor Goodfairy's address on the global news channel-- if that is not altogether impossible."

Raven scrutinized her options, knowing full well the workings of EAH's rumor mills and the nine other students in her class. "We can try?"

"I suppose that will have to suffice," Headmaster Grimm sighed. "Those who attended AP Fairy-Physics today shall be exempt from the rest of the school day. I _highly_ suggest retrieving picnic lunches from the castleteria and finding a discreet place to spend the rest of the day."

"That's... unexpectedly nice of you," Raven answered, almost disbelieving.

"The fate of all the realms rest upon the shoulders of the students at this school," the Headmaster turned and faced his window. "Their education will mean very little if they _perish_ before the year's end. Return to the Fairy-Physics classroom, Raven Queen, and hasten your friends to the castleteria early. I know better than to expect a secret to survive _the lunch period_."


	5. Late for Three-ses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three-ses, among other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter; will upload ch6 today also to make up for the weak wordcount.

"Okay, so, let's organize everything we know," Apple drew out a handful of diagrams. "And separate them from things that are only hypotheses, as well as options that we know for certain are impossible."

"Are you sure you don't want to eat lunch first?" Ginger suggested, nudging Apple's picnic basket towards her. "It's hard to think on an empty stomach."

"I think I'm a little too nervous to eat just now," Apple tried a smile. "It's like the night before final hexams and staring down an angry dragon all rolled into one feeling."

"At least an apple?" Ginger held one out, her eyebrow raised. Its shining, red surface called out to her, promising the sweetness of the fruit within.

"Well," Apple hesitated. "Mmmmmaybe just one. Or two."

"Besides," Raven nudged her, sitting cross-legged atop a blanket. "Multi-tasking is a thing. We can brainstorm while we chew."

"So what do we know?" Humphrey Dumpty's quick, jury-rigged projector displayed Apple's diagrams over a wall. "We can start with the big one: the world is ending?"

"West," Cupid suddenly remembered. "Isn't your mom the Wicked Witch of the West? Like... one of the really important professors who discovered this? Maybe you know something else about the situation!"

West swallowed a mouthful of sandwich. "I mean... I'm kind of surprised you guys didn't know about it already? My mom's been talking about the end nearing for almost the past ten years. Of course... nobody ever believes a Wicked Witch."

"Boy, do I know that feeling," Ginger patted his shoulder. "But we'll all believe you, here. Start from things you know for certain."

"Well... mom has a million copies of the manuscript for the Spell of Sacrifice at home... they're all sort of rough drafts," West pondered. "She had three feasible final translations when I left home, but she called and said she'd narrowed it down to one, just in case the peer review tries to publish an alternate version. She and Professor Goodfairy are... kind of frenemies? Though I would assure the Miss Goodfairy in our class that I carry no such sentiment for her."

"No need to worry about that," Farrah nodded. "My aunt specializes in spatial reconstruction, though... so if we get a copy of the original, we'll know for sure that it's exactly what it looked like way back when."

"Speaking of the scroll, I think we can trust its contents, at least to a certain extent," West postulated. "All of the translated storylines are roughly the same: the great tree of the multiverse, and the branch of our realm that grew sick. A wise sorceress who discovered a spell that could save it, and a brave queen who was willing to sacrifice herself to give power to the spell. And the Storybook of Legends-- the linchpin that prevented people from repeating their mistakes."

"The Storybook of Legends... the most powerful compulsion spell of all," Raven shuddered, remembering the brief time she herself had spent as a puppet of evil.

"The details are a bit fuzzy. I know that much," Farrah thoughtfully chewed a roll of bread. "Aunt Faragonda likes to call mom and complain about it. She was only paying attention to the first half of the scroll for a while, because she thought it was a forgotten fairytale that just happened to provide substantial proof for her whole multiverse theory thing."

"We definitely know what we learned in class," Dexter offered. "Whatever the spell might actually contain, the binding force is pseudogravitational-- probably across five dimensions, if my integrations are correct. It would have to be powerful on an enormous scale... at least four times ten to the six-thousandth magiwatts per fairytale revolution."

"Oooh! Riddlish! I've got this one," Maddie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Why, that's the power of several million billion trillion Ever Afters!"

"You know what? Surprisingly, that's correct," Humphrey agreed. "The spell probably meant to keep Ever After around for several 'million billion trillion' years."

"I still need a translation," Raven shook her head.

Apple offered one as she prepared to start in on her second apple, "It means it created more power than seen ever after. The whole school, plus the entire town of Book End, runs on maybe _six_ magiwatts of power for an entire semester."

Raven glanced towards her hands. "And _my ancestor_ did that? Wow. And I thought being able to recharge my MirrorPhone with magic was a neat trick."

"Not alone," Apple reminded her. "The spell's power had a price... a _royal_ price."

"Magic that kills is the type of knowledge spoken of only in legend," Alistair asserted. "Blood magic, the most ancient and evil of magics. A lost study... one that not even I seek to rediscover or explore."

"Maybe it's not just... the sacrifice thing," Cupid offered. "Many of the stories are about finding true love. And if I know one thing about the power of love, it's that _nothing_ is stronger."

"We'll put both of those in the 'theories' section," Humphrey decided. "I don't know if we want to go around saying that it's one or the other yet."

"Headmaster Grimm mentioned two theories," Raven suggested. "One was that returning to our fairytale roots would fix everything... which he said was impossible, because the story of Snow White doesn't exist anymore, and the script's already been flipped."

"It hasn't been _totally_ flipped," Dexter grimaced, knowing that it was a long-shot. "I mean, change around a few pronouns here or there, substitute Dwarves with Pixies... it's still salvageable, maybe. Even if the fairytales are only part of the original spell, we can look to the stories of the past and use Hexonomy to reverse-engineer some of the details as to why it worked."

"Anything's worth a try. If we can just glean a little more information about it... maybe it'll be easier making the second theory work," Raven tapped her nails against her picnic basket. "The second theory was that going off the script as far as possible would eventually lead us back to a safe path-- whatever that safe path might be."

"That sounds like total madness," Maddie gasped. She grinned, "I love it!"

"Loop Theory," Alistair nodded. "The belief that, if you continue down a single path long enough with any kind of methodology, you'll reach your intended destination eventually. Bunny's a big fan of it. With a little luck, I could see that actually working."

"So," Raven sighed. "It sounds like we always come back to the same story. Royals or Rebels. The traditions of old against forging a new destiny..."

"Maybe we shouldn't worry about that just yet," Farrah suggested. "Not until we know what limits us. Not until we know what we can't do."

"We wouldn't want to overlimit ourselves," Ginger warned. "I have faith in my classmates."

"As do I," Humphrey pushed up his glasses. "But we need to know what we're working with. Limitations on time, on information, on resources..."

"We can't time travel... that would involve movement in the fourth dimension," Dexter decided. "It would instantly displace the time-traveling group into a different world than the one we're trying to save, since undoing or re-doing a choice would necessitate creating a new timeline according to Multiverse Dynamics."

"And we can't allow for widespread panic," West interjected suddenly. "Most fairytale-folk won't accept it as truth until a state of emergency is declared. The professors are probably trying to have a meeting with all the fairytale royalty... but it can't hurt to make sure they've arranged something."

"Most importantly," Maddie sat up, raising her hat, "We can't forget about afternoon tea! Why, it's almost three o'clock!"

"It is?" Apple squeaked, glancing down at her MirrorPhone. "Oh no... I completely forgot to hext Darling about having to miss practice today."

"We had Dragon Practice today?" Raven hurriedly picked up her phone and began furiously messaging the team captain. "Hex, I can't believe I forgot... poor Nevermore!"

"Aw, gort-- I'm supposed to be filming Blondie's MirrorCast in less than half an hour," Dexter hurriedly stood. "I don't know what I'm going to tell her about missing afternoon classes!"

"Easy for you to say... I'm supposed to be broadcasting Blondie's MirrorCast live, and I _still_ have to put the servers back together again," Humphrey wobbled from the force of standing, only caught by Cupid.

"And I'm supposed to _be_ in the MirrorCast," Cupid groaned. "She'll find us first if we don't show. What are we supposed to say about the... you know...?"

"Just tell her there was a mishap in AP Fairy-Physics," Farrah assured them. "Headmaster Grimm gave us all a pass for the rest of the day to recover. Technically true."

"Dexer and Humphrey seem to know all the details about the pseudogravitational equations," West brushed his hair from his face. "If she cares enough to listen to a three-hour lecture on the influence of magic on gravity and similar forces, then she at least deserves the other half-hour lecture about multiverse theory, even if not the matter we are sworn to secrecy over."

"All right. We've got to keep quiet on this until morning, so-- if it's all right with you guys-- that's what we're telling our friends?" Raven looked at those around her.

Apple placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm still not really comfortable with it, but it looks like that's all we can say for now. Until tomorrow?"

"Until tomorrow," Raven agreed, and that afternoon, they broke from their small coalition in the abandoned storage tower of Ever After High-- leaving no sign that they had ever met, save for a smattering of footprints in the dust.


	6. A Little Night-Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is a sleepless night for those who worry most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a mirror on the [Ever After High Fanwiki](http://everafterhighfandom.wikia.com/wiki/Pixie_Dust_and_Hydrogen).

Cupid sighed and laid back against the tiling, feeling her feathered wings fold beneath her. She wished she could say that it was only the special circumstances that led her to break curfew, but in truth, it was far from a rare occasion. It was part of why she enjoyed rooming with Darling, in fact-- they could each sneak out at odd hours of the night, neither of them having much respect for the dorm-by-midnight rule, and it was unspoken that they would not question each other. It was part of why her roommate was so easy to talk to when she truly did, in fact, have something on her mind.

It had gotten very, very hard to avoid spilling the whole situation to Darling that night. _Especially_ given how heavily it weighed upon her thoughts.

And so, on this night, Cupid clambered up upon the flattest, most comfortable roof she could find atop the school and lay still, gazing at the stars. Sleep would not come to her tonight, this she knew. But a few moments of solitude, the thousands of stars that glimmered in the sky above... yes, Cupid thought, this would be rest enough for tonight.

Then, the faint sound of someone sitting beside her: "Feathers and friends-- together, alone."

Cupid glanced up. "Maddie? What are you doing _here_?"

"Before asking a question, shouldn't you answer it first?" Maddie giggled, sitting cross-legged next to her. She sipped at her ever-present cup of tea.

"But... if I knew the answer," Cupid looked at her oddly. "Then I wouldn't have to ask."

"No, silly billy. I meant you," she bopped Cupid on the nose with a chuckle. "I'll answer what I'm doing on this lovely-- and, might I add, comfortable-- roof if you'll do the same!"

"Oh, of course," Cupid turned her gaze back towards the stars. "I come up here sometimes, when I need to think, or be alone... or prevent my roommates from finding out something I'm not supposed to tell them. It was especially handy when I roomed with Blondie... she's a _very_ persistent questioner."

"What a coincidence," Maddie chuckled. "Why, I'm up here for exactly the _opposite_ reason! All the people in the world are right here with us, if you only look for them."

Surprise flitted across Cupid's face, "Where?"

"Why, _there_ , of course," Maddie waved her hand out towards the sky. "The stars have their own way of talking, you know... and if they're not in the mood for conversation, they can be very, _very_ good at listening."

"You make them sound like people," Cupid replied, nestling into her wings once more. She would not mind listening to Maddie either, she thought, not in this moment. She was a welcome distraction from all the thoughts whirling in her own head.

"But they are," Maddie insisted, pointing to the stars above. "Do you see those three stars, clustered together over there? Those are three friends, gathered around a MirrorPad to watch their favorite show. And that one-- that blue one over here-- why, I do believe he's lost."

"Maddie, that's a fairy-satellite," Cupid tried to stifle a smile, but it came across her face unbidden.

"Even fairy-satellites can get lost sometimes," Maddie didn't seem phased by this at all. "Look at that silver star, see how it flickers? That star is a narrator-- for though our world has few narrators indeed, narrators live aplenty across all the realms of the universe. Perhaps they even come from places where you and I seem to them as wondrous myths, such as the Library of Alexandria is to us."

The words didn't make much sense, thought Cupid, but there was a sort of poetry to them that pleased her ear. Wishing to hear but a little more, she asked, "And what about that pink star? The one that's just a little bit ahead of the satellite?"

"It's the sun to a world where people are treasured for their differences, and what the people of Ever After might revile is reveled in," Maddie painted a picture within her mind. "A paradise for all that is fabulous and freaky, rolled into one-- and though they seem like what we might call 'monsters,' why, they're the same as we at heart! They even go to high school, just like us."

Cupid froze, recalling the world where she had once lived. "Maddie... is that true?"

Maddie burst out in laughter, "Oh, of course not! Who ever heard of such a thing as a Monster High? Maybe there is one, somewhere, but it's definitely not near that pink star... maybe it's right by this one? Or this one?"

Cupid let the tenseness seep out of her once more. It was all in Maddie's mind, of course... and she did not know yet of the world which only Cupid should ever know of within this realm.

"What kind of star, then, is that pink star?" Cupid asked. "If not the sun to a world of monsters?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know," Maddie grinned and shook her head. "See, if you cover up your left eye, and squint juuuuust right, you can tell that they're actually _two_ stars-- just super-duper close to each other."

Cupid did as she was bade, "I can... sort of see it?"

"Now, what does that look like to you, hmmm?" Maddie gently prodded her shoulder. "I _know_ you know this one."

Finding her heart struck by a fit of irrationality, Cupid let her imagination take hold: "They're stars who have watched each other a long, long time... stars that fell in love when they were hundreds-- no, _thousands_ of years away from ever meeting. But stars... they don't move quickly, if they ever move at all. And so, for all this time, they've been slowly moving across the night sky, desperate to meet, and here they are, and here we are... able to witness their first sweet kiss."

"Oh, you're _definitely_ good at this," Maddie beamed. "I couldn't have gotten them to tell me _half_ of what they told you."

"No... I'm sorry, Maddie," Cupid sighed, not wishing to falsely ascribe feelings to these celestial features. "I wasn't listening to the stars. I was listening to my own silly heart."

Maddie giggled, "Why, Cupid, don't you know? It matters not what you call a _star_ or a _heart_ or a _circle_. Those are only shapes given to describe the same thing, which truthfully has no shape at all, or perhaps is shaped differently for each person who happens upon it by circumstance. But you must realize-- the shape of the shape doesn't matter, only how _you're_  shaped by such a shape."

"I'm not sure whether that's the wisest thing I've ever heard, or the least comprehensible," Cupid turned her face towards her, seeking with her eyes.

"Well, as dear ol' dad always says," Maddie smiled back, "Wisdom isn't meant to be understood, and therefore, what is incomprehensible _must_ be wise."

"Then, Maddie, you've got to be the wisest person I know," Cupid laughed, feeling much lighter already in spite of the weight of her knowledge. Maddie knew the same as she, after all, and she seemed fairly optimistic even in spite of the whole ordeal.

"Why, thank you both," Maddie beamed, and though Cupid looked at her a bit curiously, she laughed it off-- after all, not everyone was privy to the narration.

"Completely incomprehensible," Cupid agreed.

"You're pretty wise yourself, you know," Maddie waggled her finger in Cupid's directions. "Why, you make sense of incomprehensible things each and every day! That's very nearly as wise as being incomprehensible yourself, if I might say so."

"Me?" Cupid seemed surprised by that. "What do you mean?"

"Your hand is the one that leads Ever After High in the realm of love, you know," Maddie flopped over the roof upside-down. "And there's nothing with less rhyme or reason than people and their feelings! Why, they're always impossibly unpredictably wonder-iffic, and here you are, and here they are, and kablammo! Suddenly, sense!"

"You mean... like my advice show? Maddie, that's not making sense of feelings... I just offer people advice on what to do once they're there," Cupid chuckled, flattered. "Love isn't _supposed_ to make sense... the heart wants what the heart wants. Thinking about why people feel a certain way... that isn't _meant_ to be understood."

"Knowing that something _shouldn't_ make sense," Maddie's grin widened. "Why, that's the wisest of all!"

Cupid broke out into giggles. "You know, Maddie, you're pretty great yourself. Why haven't we hung out more?"

Maddie flopped back up onto her elbows, "Why, we hang out all the time! There's you and I and Raven and Apple and all _three_ of the Charmings, not to mention Briar and Hunter and Blondie and..."

"No, silly, I mean just us... not like, in a group of all our friends," Cupid rolled over, mirroring Maddie's posture.

"Hmmm..." Maddie tapped her chin. "I have no idea! In fact, I was _thiiiiiiiis_ close to asking Raven if she wanted to come up here with me! I guess it's just been coincidence, though once is merely happenstance."

"Why _didn't_ you ask Raven to come up with you?" Cupid turned her head curiously.

"Something told me I shouldn't," Maddie kicked her heels. "Besides! Dexter showed up super-duper _hextremely_ late, extra, extra worried with a side of nervous-sauce. Which, in case you were wondering, is the _complete_  opposite of awesome-sauce. They were talking about a ton of important-sounding hexonomomomicon-type things about rune translations. I thought I'd leave them to it."

"... so they're alone now? In Raven's dorm?" Cupid sat up straighter. Her heart pounded in her chest. "And they're _alone_?"

"Heehee... you said 'alone' twice, silly billy," Maddie booped her cheek with a finger. "And they're not alone... why, they're there with each other and a _huuuuuuge_ pile of textbooks Dexter brought from the library!"

"They're studying together, alone," Cupid sighed, and nibbled her lower lip. "Maddie, can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me as many questions as you want, Cupid," Maddie rolled over. "Including the one you just asked me!"

Cupid did her best to smile back, but the corners of her lips were weighted with heartbreak. "What do you think they're saying to each other right now?"

"These things that be unknown to thee remain unknown until we see..." Maddie mused. "Save for in the minds of three."

"Three?" Cupid creased her brow. "Who's the _third_ person?"

"Why, the Narrator, of course," Maddie extended her arm towards the sky. "But something in the stars says that things are going a-okay over there."

"Something in the stars," Cupid paused. "Or something in your heart?"

"You _do_ understand what I've been saying!" Even Maddie seemed surprised.

"Well, I remember this line in a book I read," Cupid stretched out her cramped wings. "It said love is just another form of madness... and whether it's stars or hearts or circles, it's something that nobody really understands... and in that way, I guess, everyone can understand it." 

Maddie scrutinized her, perplexed for a moment. Then, a smile, "Are you _sure_ you don't speak Riddlish?"

"I'm a natural communicator... I pick up new languages quick," Cupid winked, and decided that, for her, maybe tonight would be okay.

Everything that would crash down upon her in the morning-- Raven and Dexter, keeping secrets from her roommate, the end of the world, and even the Spellcasting Ethics quiz she'd neglected to cram for-- those things could all wait for tomorrow. Those things could wait, and Cupid had no wish to ruin this lovely night in lovely company beneath the breathtaking cast of stars that hung over Ever After High.

Maddie seemed to agree, "You _are_ good at talking to the stars... what about that blue one over there? You can be the one to tell _me_ about it this time!"

And so Cupid nestled in and began spinning her a tale: "That's the eye of a prince among stars, trying to find the star he'll know is meant for him as he gazes across the skies..."

* * *

But beneath the roof of Ever After High, hallways away into the girls' dorms, two figures sat, as far as they could be from gazing at the stars. Raven Queen and Dexter Charming studied furiously, hunched over a truly enormous pile of paper and a formidable array of books-- seeking, while they still could, to find a way to re-do the bindings which had been lost.

"All right, so the translation marks out this passage as the lines used to create the Storybook of Legends... but there's still no information on how the stories were chosen, or how the... sacrifices... were used," Raven hesitated. "It looks like the wording of the exact stories inside might have been important..."

"But nobody touches the Storybook of Legends just to... to _read_ it," Dexter cringed at the very thought. "It's an important historical artifact, and most people only ever get to open it _once_ in their entire lives, on Legacy Day. That's... not exactly enough time to get down a story word-for-word. What we know about our destinies, it's all just the illustrations."

"Headmaster Grimm, Giles Grimm, and Baba Yaga seemed to know enough about the stories to make a working copy," Raven scrambled. "Maybe they kept a record of their work in doing that?"

"It's better than nothing... but the copy wasn't a perfect one," Dexter fidgeted a little. "The stories weren't all correct. Destinies got mixed up even if they were never really meant to come true. I mean... royal families keep diaries and records of the stories they live in the past. Even if the school faculty went to every royal household and collected the original tales as they've been told by mouth ever afterwards, I'm still pretty sure that the Storybook of Legends wasn't just a runic translation of traditional fairytale."

Raven glanced up, briefly, from the tome of spells she'd been perusing. "You sound really sure of that. Like... super-sure. If you don't mind my asking..."

"Well... Legacy Day two years ago. I was one of the students who signed in our freshman year-- though, um, the fake book, of course," Dexter supplied. "Before anyone had the thought of Royals or Rebels or anything. Headmaster Grimm just sort of... rounded up a bunch of us at random. I recognized the story I signed."

"So you've known whose Prince Charming you're supposed to be..." Raven bit her lip, unsure if she really wanted to know herself. She met his eyes for just a moment, so bright that they could shine straight through his glasses.

"Not... really...? I never saw the real storybook, so I wouldn't know what it had planned for me," Dexter listlessly turned a page over. "Do you remember the other people who signed that year?"

"I didn't really pay much attention... I mean, I know Faybelle signed, and maybe Crystal Winter? Since she graduated that year?" Raven twiddled an end of her hair. "There was Ashlynn, of course, and both of her stepsisters, and... wait. You're not trying to say..."

"Yeah. _That_ Prince Charming," Dexter chuckled. "I don't think Ashlynn saw me in hers-- I mean, in her story, the prince has maybe one line of dialogue and a dance that gets cut off at midnight. I didn't... really have the guts to _not_ sign, but I've pretty much known I couldn't follow that story... ever. I guess I thought that I could do all the, uh, necessary prince-y things and skip the wedding at the end. Maybe convince Hunter to switch places with me for the ball?"

Raven felt a strange tension seep from her, as if unsure if she should truly relax. She tried a joke, "That sounds pretty pre-Rebel."

"I mean... if you can call it that," Dexter rubbed the back of his neck. "Even back then, Hunter seemed to like her a lot, even though I don't think they'd started the whole... secret relationship thing... until after I signed. He and I have been friends for a long time, and I felt pretty bad... like I was somehow stealing his destiny? If that makes sense?"

"You didn't steal anything," Raven asserted. "Headmaster Grimm made you sign the book, and the book wasn't even the _real_ Storybook of Legends."

"I'm just glad he and Ashlynn worked out and I _didn't_ wind up sealing my destiny back then," Dexter agreed. "And... if I had to be honest, I'm kind of relieved I'm not part of that story anymore. I'm a lousy dancer, anyways."

Raven couldn't suppress a laugh, "Really? You were worried about the _dancing_?"

"My siblings got all the coordination in the family," Dexter shrugged and chuckled. "I guess it's all right, though... I'll take being a little clumsy over constantly losing MirrorPhones, any day. Daring keeps breaking the camera buttons on his... I think Darling's outright misplaced fifteen or sixteen of hers."

"Hear, hear," Raven grinned, highlighting a line of runes that seemed particularly interesting. "It's too bad you can't use any of that tech magic to make this go any faster... I think we're stuck doing it the old-fashioned way."

"Maybe I can..." Dexter furrowed his brows. He realized, "I mean. We know most of the fairy-physics behind the dissolution of the bond. If we make a digital model of it, with all the equations plugged into the right places, maybe we can predict the forces necessary? I guess what I'm trying to ask is how well you can visualize the spell... and if you could point out what it'd look like if I managed to get a working hologram?"

"Well, it kind of looked like a cone-ish shaped thing in my head when I read it the first time through... but I guess it would really depend on what the timeline looks like? Honestly, I'm not even sure what some of these runes mean," Raven hesitated. "I learned this curse visualization spell in Hexology. I can give it a try."

Dexter rapidly typed several lines of code onto his opened MirrorTop. Certainly enough, his program provided him the output of a theoretically infinite tree, from which he was capable of using the parameters to generate a theoretical branch, much like the world of Ever After. It was a quick couple button presses to project that image midair, faintly glowing with the lines of hidden dimensions.

"That should be it," he said, pushing up his glasses.

"And this should be the spell," Raven pointed, and indeed, the lines that appeared seemed almost like a cone. "But you see, the power dissipates a few hundred years down the line... and Ever After's been around way longer than that. Even if you loop it over and over, between the generations... it just kind of fades out."

"There's got to be something we're missing," Dexter frowned. "Spells and programs aren't so different... there's got to be something that made it work when it was first cast."

"Okay. Maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way," Raven sighed. "Let's say I'm doing my homework, or something, but my program keeps crashing before I can make any headway. What's the first thing you tell me?"

Automatically, as if he'd said the words a million times-- "Have you tried restarting your computer?"

Raven glanced at him strangely, "That usually works?"

"People sort of get that problem all the time," Dexter rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I wouldn't say it works for all of them... maybe a little over two thirds? It's just, usually, a program crashing means there was an error in starting it, or there's a program running in the background that's slowing things down, or maybe the computer's just been running in the same session for too long."

"We can't restart the entire world, unfortunately," Raven sighed and studied the model. "What other things work?"

"I guess outright virus removal isn't an option either," Dexter began to pace. "Um. There's defragmenting the drive? Deleting other data? I guess the big one would be checking if the program's compatible with your operating system, and upgrading it if it isn't. That's been a popular fix since MirrorPhone OS 7."

"Okay... updating stories doesn't sound so weird, I guess?" Raven hesitated. "There's no way to write that into a spell, is there...? So that it updates automatically?"

Dexter froze. Something like epiphany crossed his face. "There is. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner... we use these runes _all the time_ in Tech Club! I only know the modern symbology, but if we can find their archaic equivalents..."

"Try this book," Raven pulled one off a pile. "I have no clue what any of it means, but there's an appendix in the back with columns labeled 'modern' and 'magic'-- which is the same thing, since we still use archaic forms for spellcasting."

Dexter quickly thumbed that book open, "It's so simple I completely forgot about it... for every _n_ times that the operating system updates, the program updates an equal number of times."

He passed her a scrap of paper with a mere four runes written upon it.

"Are you sure?" Raven glanced at them cautiously. "I've never _really_ cast anything with that second rune in the spell. Even though I've seen it in all my mom's spellbooks, that's a rune for _curses_. Really, really _permanent_ curses."

"I think that's the right equivalent to the programmer's rune," Dexter hesitated. "But... since we're only casting in _theory_..."

Raven flicked her fingers, and at once, the display of the cone became something much, much more familiar-looking. She'd never been one for embroidery, but even Raven could tell what a backstitch looked like.

She took a sharp inhale. "What did those runes even mean?"

"It's the oldest spell in the book," Dexter smiled. "'Once upon a time.'"

"Once upon a time... as in the beginning to every fairytale," Raven breathed, astounded by their breakthrough. "I mean... I know you know that already, it's just..."

"I can't believe it worked, either," Dexter let himself just slightly laugh. "We... have something in common!"

A grin erupted on Raven's face, "You're wicked smart, Dex, did you know that? We make a pretty good team."

"You know," Dexter said, feeling tremendously less awkward than usual. "Though I'm glad we're lab partners, and all... I didn't think _this_ would be our first project."

Raven tried to muffle her laughter in her sleeve. "I don't think I expected it either... but all things considered, I'm _hextremely_ glad we got to figure this our together."

A long shot, Dexter thought, but he might never again be brave (or giddy, or sleep-deprived) enough to ever bring it up in the days to come. And so, channeling as much of his brother's confidence as he could, Dexter suggested: "Then, maybe... I mean, if the rest of Ever After still exists... we could get a Hocus Latte sometime? Um. Together?"

Raven grinned at him, and decided right then and there-- they wouldn't have any time left to deliberate, soon, whether the world would end in the next twenty-four hours or they'd be roped into creating some completely crazy plan to prevent that from happening. It was time to stop being held back by fear, and Raven wondered if this was what Briar had _meant_ by living every day to its fullest.

And so, taking the leap, Raven answered: "I think we'd better hurry to Hocus Latte _right now_ , before classes start. We never know what's going to happen tomorrow... and besides. After the night we just had, we could both _really_ use the caffeine."

The quip sent both of them into peals of mirth again, Raven only _just_ managing to calm down enough to lean her head out the window and whistle for Nevermore, their ride into Book End. She clambered atop her dragon, offering a hand up to Dexter who took it with only a moment's trepidation-- it was an unsolicited off-curfew excursion, and reckless besides, but though both of them knew it, neither could muster even the slightest care for so petty a rule. His arms wrapped around her waist, the morning breeze ruffling their hair... if the world ended now, and it would fade into non-being forever afterwards, Raven thought she would die happy.

"Hey, um, look," he smiled shakily and boldly nudged her ankle with his own. "The sun's coming up."

"The sun's coming up," Raven agreed, and relished its warmth. "Today, we're alive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes: Cupid flies frequently in the book series, though she doesn't seem to be able to in the web animation (as opposed to Faybelle, whose earliest appearance showed her flying). For this fic, I am going with the latter: she ascended to the rooftop through a tower staircase and climbed the rest of the way (similar to how she snuck out of her dorms for the True Hearts Day dance).


	7. The Apple Doesn't Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Far from the tree, that is.

There was reason for clamor in the school. Apple knew and recognized that fact. She knew it, but that made the matter no less difficult to swallow.

7:35 AM, the time of Professor Goodfairy's appearance in televised council, her address to all the people of the realm confirming what had merely been the rumor of academia these many years past. Panic, widespread, as predicted-- for nobody knew how or why the doom would come upon them, only that it was inevitable now. Apple had been _prepared_ for that; she'd been ready to assure her classmates that she and Raven and Ever After's best and brightest were working on a plan to save them all. She'd even hexted all of her friends outside Fairy Physics to come and watch the council on the common room's flat screen.

Her soothing voice and leadership had at least managed to control that episode, if only slightly, and Apple had even managed to convince most of her classmates to attend school that day instead of cutting class, citing the possibility that the professors would be conveying key organization efforts during the day.

"We're going to need all the teamwork we can muster," she'd proclaimed. Looking recalcitrant, "I'm so very, very sorry most of us didn't find out sooner... but the professors were just trying to keep everyone from freaking out all at the same time. Even then... only the faculty knew what was going on before yesterday."

"Look, Apple, I know Headmaster Grimm had you sworn to secrecy, and he _might_ be using classes to convey info," Briar seemed the first to recover. "But I still can't get over the fact that I spent last night _completely asleep_ while the world was literally ending. Whatever you want to say about it, I'm cutting class today. There's so much living I haven't done yet, and I'm not about to spend the last of it _in class_."

"Even when the world's ending, Headmaster Grimm _still_  won't cancel class!" Faybelle huffed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Briar on this one. I'm outta here."

"I... okay, I know, that's a reasonable thought to have," Raven tried to support Apple. "But maybe there's some way we can contact you if anything _really_ important happens at school?"

"We can make a list, and hext everyone when something major happens," Apple offered. She pulled out a scroll and a handful of pens, "Attention, everyone! Even if you've decided not to attend class, please put your name and phone number on this scroll so we can keep you updated! Your safety is our number one priority."

Students began lining up, scrawling their names on the paper and making quick exits. Apple sighed, relieved that nobody had gone shrieking down the halls in absolute panic. Perhaps the shock had dulled the fear, just as her royal responsibilities had dulled her own.

She had been supervising the collection of these phone numbers when, at 8:04 AM, Apple's own MirrorPhone rang. Her mother came up on the caller ID.

"We can manage out here, go take your call," Darling squeezed her shoulder, nudging her slightly. "I'll, um... walk you to class afterwards?"

"All right," Apple smiled weakly, the courtship still so very new. The thought occurred to her that it was soon, too soon, for everything to end, and it was all she could do to maintain her composure.

She stepped around the corner, into the dorm halls, and answered her phone.

"Princess White, can you hear me?" came a very gruff, decidedly not-Snow-White voice across the line.

"Hudson!" Apple answered, easily recognizing her mother's morning-shift dwarf bodyguard. "I can hear you. Does mom need me for something? EAH is a little hectic right now, but..." 

"Princess White, you may wish to be sitting down to hear this," Hudson answered. "This morning's news report..."

"I know, I saw it," Apple replied solemnly, "And rest assured that I'm doing my fairy best to keep Ever After from panic."

"Just... just sit down, Princess," he sighed, losing patience for a moment. "Please. Sit."

Apple carefully sat down upon the uppermost stair-step. "I'm sitting."

"Queen White had plans to declare a state of emergency on national television," Hudson explained. "The podium with the apple tree statues. You know the one."

"Does she need me to be there?" Apple fidgeted, itching to stand. "I can grab Braebryn and be there in half an hour."

Hudson took a deep breath, "Princess, there's no good way to say this. One of those statues collapsed. It fell on your mother. She's on her way to the hospital right now, but... well, you've seen those statues. Two tons of marble. Quartz apples as big as someone's head."

The ground seemed to swoop out beneath her, taking Apple's gut with it. Dizzily, she leaned against the banister.

"She's... she's okay right? I mean, she's probably hurt but," Apple's hands shook. She tried not to drop her phone. "She's... alive?"

"She survived the initial fall," Hudson confirmed. "But she's in critical condition. Someone needs to give the national address, Princess White. And your mother... you know her. Always prepared."

"Her will... in the event of the unthinkable, her duties officially fall to her heiress," Apple's mouth went dry. "Me."

"We've deemed the podium sites too unstable in this time of emergency," Hudson answered. "Secretary Katt's sending you a copy of Queen White's address. We currently don't advise leaving school grounds, given the disorder of Book End and neighboring communities, but we'll send over whatever press you think you need."

"Understood," Apple swallowed, and reminded herself-- she had a royal duty to fulfill. "I don't want to make a scene with too many reporters... I have all the press I'll need right here at Ever After High."

"Blondie Lockes," Hudson realized. "We'll make sure any reporter worth their salt tunes into the MirrorCast. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Well..." Apple hesitated. She knew that her people came before her personal matters, but... "Will I be able to visit my mom? After the address?"

"We don't know when the doctors can approve it," Hudson replied after a brief pause. "But we'll keep you updated. Just know that whatever happens on-air, not a single dwarf among us doubts that your mother would be proud of you. Good luck... Princess Regent Apple."

And the call ended.

Apple took a deep, leveling breath. She thought about her people, the citizens of the fairytale realm, and she thought about how badly they needed this address. How they would depend on her while her mother was... well, perhaps she shouldn't think about _that_ right now. Her citizens would come first. They would have to.

"Apple?" A gentle voice spoke, startling her. When had Darling arrived? "You've... sort of been up here a long time. Everyone's worried... is everything all right?"

She wished that she could string together more than one coherent thought. She wished she could have offered a real explanation. What she said instead was this: "I... don't think I can go to class today."

"You were so determined that everyone should go just fifteen minutes ago," Darling scooted a little bit closer to her. "Did something happen?"

"A tree fell on my mom," Apple found herself saying. A two-ton tree made of stone, she thought, and knew that she couldn't say it for fear she would begin to cry.

"Oh no... that's terrible," Darling hesitantly reached out to hug her. "Do you need a ride to the hospital? Herowing and I can get you there."

"I can't go," Apple sniffled. "She wanted me to declare a state of emergency. I... I need Blondie. I need her to start up her MirrorCast. And Headmaster Grimm... the auditorium..."

"I'll tell Blondie so she and Dexter can get cameras set up," Darling offered, making to stand. "And I'll send Daring to run for Headmaster Grimm's permission. But I'll be right back here in five minutes, Apple, and after that, I'll stay with you as long as you need it, okay?"

"Okay," Apple whimpered, trying desperately to hide her face behind her hand, trying not to show how badly the stress of the situation had gotten to her.

Darling began to make her way down the stairs. She stopped, and turned back. "Just remember... no matter who tries to tell you otherwise, it's okay to cry."

Apple trembled, but otherwise didn't seem to react-- and so Darling made her way down the staircase, prepared to hurry back up. She didn't expect Apple to suddenly stand and begin making her way down with her.

"I'll... I'll cry later," Apple wiped the tears beginning to leak from her eyes. "Right now, the people of Ever After don't need a damsel... they need a _queen_."

"Do you feel up to doing it?" Darling asked-- neither condescending nor pitying, but merely _asking_.

"No. But I can manage being Queen for half an hour," Apple took a deep breath. "As long as a hero can rescue me afterwards?"

Pride bloomed in Darling's chest-- pride at how very, very strong this princess could be. How determinedly she would take responsibility for her people.

"I would be honored to be that hero," Darling replied, and Apple took her hand.

* * *

This was the story of the century-- no, the story of the millennia! Perhaps, indeed, the story that would quite literally end all stories, and Blondie Lockes knew how essential it would be that she covered it _just right_. Reporters from all over Ever After would be looking towards her MirrorCast as their exclusive source of information for this important speech, and she refused to let them down.

"Just half a step to your left, Dexter," Blondie directed her cameraman. She glanced up at the eaves, "And Humphrey, don't forget to switch the feed once the announcement starts!"

Humphrey gave her a thumbs up, plugging in a headset to ensure the sound quality. Dexter carefully adjusted his stance-- familiar, now, with Blondie's finicky framework-- and prepared to activate the live streaming footage.

"All right," he said, "On air in three, two, one..."

"Blondie Lockes here with breaking news for all of Ever After," her expression was unusually somber. "After an unfortunate accident at Marble Plaza mere minutes before her state address, our beloved Queen, Snow White, has been rendered unable to act in this time of confusion. Mere moments from now, her daughter and heiress, Princess Apple White, will deliver us news about the state of the issue that grips the hearts and minds of so many. Live from Ever After High, here is the state of the nation."

Exactly on cue, Humphrey switched the feeds to a more central camera, one which had been assured exact placement before the stage. Apple White's heels clicked as she walked onto the stage and began to speak.

"Citizens of Ever After, it is with a heavy heart that I speak of the danger that will consume our world," Apple spoke as levelly as she could. "As we know from an announcement made by Professor Faragonda Goodfairy of the Fairies' College this morning, the academic community is in agreement that the very fabric of our reality is unraveling, and soon shall cease to exist altogether. It is with this knowledge in mind that I regretfully declare that Ever After is in a State of Emergency. My mother and I would both advise you to remain calm, spend time with your loved ones, and never, _ever_ give up hope. Until then, do _not_ panic and do _not_ instigate undue mayhem; scientists do not yet know if these will hasten the end. I know that here, at our very own Ever After High, we have students and faculty alike working on a plan to bring our world back together. I have faith in their ability to save us all."

"Really quick for a moment," Farrah popped up behind Apple. "I'm Farrah Goodfairy, Professor Goodfairy's niece, and I'm one of the students working on this plan. We've got a pretty good lead on how we can undo this, but we need _your_ help. If you happen to notice any collapsing buildings, disintegrating landmasses, or anything similar, we would _really_ appreciate it if you could report it on the MirrorNet at EverAfterHigh-dot-com... just click on the big, red link that says 'Unusual Sightings.' You can also hext reports to EAH-1444."

"I believe with all of my heart that we can find a solution to even this problem," Apple clasped her hands, then turned back to her audience. "The heroes of Ever After and the Royal Dwarf Guard both will be making regular patrols throughout your villages in an effort to keep our streets safe and our roads hazard-free. Rest assured, citizens of Ever After, your safety is our highest priority and we will keep you informed about our latest developments. Thank you so much for listening."

And as she began to walk off the stage, Humphrey and Dexter switched the feed to Blondie's MirrorPad as smoothly as if they had done it a million times.

"There we have it, citizens of Ever After-- we are _officially_ in a State of Emergency," Blondie reported. "Princess Apple White encourages all of you to remain optimistic as the students and faculty of Ever After High attempt to prevent our very world from ceasing to exist. Students working on the project are seeking reports of unusual sightings in order to develop a solution, but only time will tell if they'll be successful. I'll be reporting the most breaking news on my MirrorCast and blog, but for now-- this is Blondie Lockes, signing off."

Dexter cut the recording, "And that's a wrap."

"I hope I did just right... this was Apple's first address to Ever After, after all," Blondie sighed, seeming to sag as the tension trained from her. "She did amazing, though... someday, she's going to be a great Queen."

"If we live that long," Humphrey Dumpty reminded.

"Now that is just _not right_ ," Blondie huffed. "You two are working on that plan, too, right? I need every detail you can spare for my next MirrorBlog post; we're all in need of a little hope these days."

"Well," Dexter exchanged a look with Humphrey. "We don't have anything really concrete, except that we're probably going to have to rewrite a couple thousand stories in the next few days."

"Stories that have to meet the same criteria as the original storybook without being the same stories, and without knowing the designated parameters-- which could be literally _anything_ that begins with 'once upon a time,'" Humphrey glanced at Dexter. "I estimate a 30% chance of success, roughly."

"You can't report that number," Dexter disagreed. "Because _my math_ says 70% chance of success!"

"You mean," Blondie leveled. "There's a real chance that no matter what we try, it won't work??"

"Well... think of it like guessing someone's MyChapter password," Humphrey offered. "If you know the person, have a pretty good idea of what they might put down, you've got a handful of likely guesses. The only problem is that if you guess wrong, it's game over for _everyone_."

"We're making headway in narrowing the options," Dexter elbowed him. "It's going to be a lot of stories to cover when we've got a working combination."

" _If_ we get a working combination," Humphrey corrected.

Blondie was prepared to tell them that neither of those viewpoints seemed _just right_ when the sound of shattering glass from behind the auditorium curtain disrupted her thought. That was definitely _not_ a normal thing to hear right after a public address.

"Something's happened," she decided, and without a second thought for her tech support, she hastened backstage. "Apple!"

She was met with the sight of Farrah Goodfairy levitating the remnants of Apple's MirrorPhone, the source of the broken glass. Raven Queen and Darling Charming hung closely to the stricken Royal.

"Apple, are you okay?" Blondie's brow creased, beset with genuine worry for her friend. "Your speech was just right, you know... You were perfect."

"It's not about the speech," Apple's voice croaked out. "The hospital called. They did everything they could, but by the time she got there..."

"Oh, Apple," Blondie's expression softened, and she forgot abut reporting for a minute. She joined Raven and Darling crouched on the floor beside her.

"You've had a rough morning, maybe you should take a rest," Darling suggested.

"I'll take care of going to class and doing all the hexting," Raven offered. "If you need anything..."

"No... I can't just rest while Ever After is in crisis," Apple swallowed. Shaking, she stood. "I am Apple White, daughter of Snow White. And I pledged to uphold the royal tradition of _always_ putting my citizens first. I have to organize an obituary announcement--"

"I'm on it," Blondie asserted, already messaging Dexter and Humphrey to arrange an address time and blog post.

"And I need to get a working hero patrol in order..."

"I'll get Daring to call dad and all our uncles," Darling agreed, "They'll help spread the news to heroes far and wide."

"And then we have AP Fairy Physics this morning!"

"Like I said," Raven patted her shoulder. "I'll take care of things at school. The only question that's important right now, Apple, is where do _you_ want to be?"

Apple's lower lip trembled, "I want... I want to say goodbye to my mom."

"Herowing and I will take you," Darling soothingly rubbed her shoulder. "And wherever you need to go afterwards, we'll take you there, too."

Apple blinked hard in an effort to stem her tears. "I have the best friends in all of Ever After."

"We'll be here for you," Blondie smiled, softly, and story of the century be damned.

She would do whatever she could if it meant keeping all of her friends safe. If it took every ounce of reporter's intuition in her body, Blondie swore that she would use every minute of her media exposure in the name of good.


	8. Who's Afraid (of a Big Bad Wolf)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar threat is like an old friend in these uncertain times... because it is the unknown which is scariest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was my personal favorite chapter to write in this fic

Well, thought Dexter, it was far from the _first_ time his intuition had led him wrong. A Charming sort of year it was not, and every catastrophic event seemed to remind him of that.

As he and Daring finished up the last of several calls to the many, many, many branches of their family tree, Dexter sighed and rubbed his face. After an all-nighter and an exhausting morning, Dexter could really use a serious pick-me-up. Was there still coffee in the school cafeteria?

"Not looking so hot there, little bro," Daring cuffed his shoulder. "Long morning?"

"Long night," Dexter corrected, "With an even _longer_ morning. I should've asked for triple espresso at Hocus Latte."

"Ohoho... sneaking off of school grounds after curfew?" Daring's eyebrows rose. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"I didn't think I had it in me, either, until today," Dexter admitted. "Speaking of which... you're handling the end of the world pretty well. I mean, I was almost expecting you to go running through the halls proclaiming that the end is nigh."

"The end of the world? Hah!" Daring scoffed, full of bravado. "Let me tell you something, Dexter... after the third or fourth existential crisis, the end of the world doesn't seem like the worst thing that could happen. I mean, certainly, there's the matter of disappearing forever... losing our entire history... being unremembered save for a hollow echo in the... void..."

He seemed to visibly deflate, and then collapse and curl in on himself.

"It really _doesn't_ get easier, does it?" Dexter sighed, and attempted to comfort Daring by patting his shoulder. "Did... did you call dad?"

"He agreed to get out on the streets and head a task force," Daring sighed, inconsolable. "I said I would be out there, too. I don't know what to say to him."

"Well, can you still... you know," Dexter mimed a set of claws and bared his teeth.

"I haven't really tried... but I can feel the beast within me," Daring admitted. "Sometimes, if I spend too much time in front of a mirror, I get a little... furry."

"You mentioned that you're stronger and faster as a beast," Dexter ventured. "Maybe, if you show dad how that can help you _as a hero_..."

"But I won't be handsome," Daring's lower lip quivered.

"But you'll be selfless, noble, strong... and, most importantly, _daring_." Dexter smiled. "You don't have to be king of all the realms to be a great hero. Even when you were ten and broke your sword trying to battle a boulder, I still thought you were a better hero than I'd ever be."

"Yes, well," Daring managed a shaky (though still charming) smile. "If you'll recall, it was Darling who eventually defeated the boulder. And I seem to remember that you attempted to _parley_ with it."

"Um, anyways," Dexter flushed, embarrassed. "Let's go meet with Hunter and the others at the Track and Shield field! I managed to find some students to scout the school perimeter."

"You aren't coming?" Daring questioned

"I'll be mission control at EAH," Dexter reminded. "Besides, I'm running the emergency hext alert system with Raven. I have to stay."

"Speaking of Raven," Daring wiggled his eyebrows. "I had no idea your type was tall, dark, and villain-y."

Dexter reddened further. "Raven's not a villain. She's not even close to a villain!"

"That doesn't change the fact you were spotted getting a Hocus Latte with her this morning," Daring elbowed him.

"... she likes hers the same way I do," Dexter smiled. "Double-shot espresso and extra mocha."

"Sounds like someone's fallen hard," Daring chuckled, fondly exasperated. "If we all survive this, dad is going to kill you."

"You know what? It's kind of... no, it's definitely, _totally_ worth it," Dexter grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Dad can disapprove as much as he wants."

Daring's expression dropped to solemnity, "Mom is going to kill _her_."

Ouch. Their mother, just as much as their father, could be a force to be reckoned with. Dexter winced, "I'll, um, make sure to warn her before she meets the rest of our family. Or maybe she _never_ has to meet the rest of our family..."

"I suppose Darling's lucky in that Mother already gave Apple her seal of approval," Daring agreed, "I'm almost jealous."

As Daring began gearing up in anticipation for the scheduled patrol, Hunter Huntsman swung by, grabbing his bow and arrows and preparing to join him.

"Hey, guys," he sighed, looking less-than-content. "Let's get this over with quick."

"You have somewhere else to be...?" Dexter ventured the guess.

"I'd just rather be spending what's possibly our last days alive with the love of my life," Hunter shook his head. "I promised Ashlynn that I'd send all of the woodland creatures we rescue in her direction, though, and I can't let the little guys down. I swear I'll focus."

"Hexcellent-- we'll need it," Daring cracked his knuckles. "Where's our third man, Dexter?"

"Running late, I think," Dexter answered. "Now that I think of it, it might not have been the smartest thing to let Sparrow sign on for border patrol."

"Need an extra hero?" called a voice from the doorway. Cerise Hood inspected her nails. "I wouldn't wait for Sparrow if I were you. He's the... _slower_ between us Hoods."

"Cerise! Perfect timing, as usual," Daring gave her two thumbs up. "You'll have to know that this won't be Bookball, exactly..."

"I know what I'm getting into," Cerise barked out a laugh. "Your sister isn't the only damsel to switch to heroics. You've got a front-liner and a ranger already; I'll be scout. We can take Alpha form."

"The strategy seems sound," Hunter acknowledged. "And honestly? Waiting for Sparrow is like, the last thing I want to do. All right, Cerise, welcome to the team."

"I'm going back to the school building for third period, but I'll keep the headset on," Dexter distributed some similar communications devices among the hero guards. "And if you could just mention any 'Unusual Sightings' you see along the way...?"

"Will do, little bro," Daring ruffled his hair as they departed, much to Dexter's chagrin.

And thus, with a sigh, Dexter began the trek back to the school building. If he hurried, he'd make it back just in time for AP Fairy-Physics, if indeed classes were moving as scheduled following the events of that morning. He had no idea whether to be relieved or upset that they were still going on.

On the plus side, he thought, all of the quizzes that had been scheduled for today had been cancelled. Thank goodness for small miracles.

* * *

The ground seemed to fall beneath Cerise's feet as she hastened around the school, making a full circuit before meeting up with Daring and Hunter once more.

"Enchanted forest walkway. Felled tree," she reported. "Road to Book End... pothole that looks like it leads to outer space. Seriously creepy. You can smell the fear coming from the animals."

"Felled tree first," Daring ordered, "It's closer and we know how to deal with it. Hunter, ready your axe; Cerise, make sure no innocent passerby stumbles into that pothole. We'll meet you there when we're done in the Enchanted Forest."

"I'll be there," Cerise nodded once, solemn.

"I'll evacuate the animals from both locations," Hunter volunteered.

"Little bro," Daring tapped the microphone of his headpiece. "Can you hear me?"

"Oh! Yeah, loud and clear," a muffled noise from Dexter's end, then a brief pause before he continued. "What's the report?"

"Felled tree in Enchanted Forest," Daring ducked around branches, lifted them, began to search. "Nobody seems to have been injured. Cerise reported an 'unusual' pothole on the road to Book End; she's guarding it now."

"Understood," Dexter answered, "Cerise, can you hear me?"

Static for a moment, and then: "I can hear you, Dex. What do you need?"

"Don't touch the pothole, and don't let anyone else touch it," he reminded her. "I need you to describe it. Maybe, um, start with size or color...?"

"About the size of a giant's big toe," Cerise replied. "Middle of the road. It's kind of crumbling a little around the edges; might be getting bigger. When you look into it, I swear to godmother, it's like staring into outer space."

"Can you describe the area where you're standing?" There were more muffled sounds for a few seconds. "We've got a map pulled up here."

"I'm way, way closer to school than Book End. You know those blackberry bushes after crossing the bridge? I'm about ten feet North of there," Cerise described. "I think there's a carriage coming up the road. Where do I detour it?"

"Have the riders dismount and circle the pothole... maybe give it a berth of about three feet?" Dexter suggested. "They'll have to leave the carriage in the middle of the road, though, and take any belongings with them. It's too risky to try driving around it-- and they _definitely_ don't want to drive over it."

"I'm on it," Cerise replied, and cut her mic. She raced ahead the road, whistling shrilly to call the horses to a stop. "There's danger ahead; I'm going to need you to get out of the vehicle and walk your horses around!"

"My apologies, but who might you be?" the lady inside the coach looked towards her curiously. Her husband patted her hand.

"I'm Cerise, part of Ever After High's hero patrol," she replied, "And I'm here to tell you that there's a very large, very dangerous hole in the universe just up ahead. You'll have to get out of the carriage and go around it."

"Cerise," the man suddenly turned to her. "I'm sorry, I know there are a lot of students... but you wouldn't happen to know an Ashlynn Ella, would you? You see, she's our daughter, and after the announcement this morning..."

"Ashlynn's parents? Queen Cinderella and King Charming?" Cerise's brows rose in recognition. "Don't worry; she's safe. I think she's taking care of scared animals in the Beast Training & Care classroom."

"Oh, thank Fairy Godmother," Cinderella seemed to exhale in relief. "We'll be glad to leave the carriage here... it's pumpkin. Biodegradable, you know."

"Glad to hear it," Cerise nodded, and quickly, their coachman was able to undo the the horses' harnesses. Luckily, the entire group made it past the pothole unharmed, and Cerise bade them farewell at the bridge, warning them to keep an eye out for any further disruptions that might have sprung up.

Only a few minutes passed before Daring and Hunter made it to where she was stationed.

"We spoke to Queen Cinderella on our way here," Daring acknowledged. "Nice work, Cerise."

"I'm just glad that Ashlynn's parents made it here all right," Hunter agreed. "She's been worried sick about them. I'm going to get the animals in this area; gotta let them know it's safe at EAH."

"I'll move the carriage from the main road," Daring nodded, rubbing his shoulders in anticipation. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he flexed his hands and willed them into becoming claws.

" _I'm_ gonna make another run around the school to make sure we got everything," Cerise answered, briefly cracking her knuckles before starting off at a sprint. Mere minutes passed before she made her reappearance, hands on her knees and breathing hard. "Nothing else. I'll make another round in fifteen minutes. Hunter, do you want to make sure those animals make it to EAH all right?"

"You mean escort them?" Hunter turned his head to the side. A family of frightened chipmunks poked their heads out of his jacket, a trembling doe brought to peace only by his comforting pat on its muzzle. A duck sat curled up under his arm, hiding its face beneath its wing.

"They're visibly terrified," Daring agreed, impressively shoving the carriage aside. "Hero Training, my man-- terrified animals and moving traffic _do not_ mix. And these animals, my friend, need the soothing presence of Ashlynn Ella to return to their regular, non-terrified selves."

"Understood," determination crossed Hunter's face, and he hurried in the direction of the school, careful to lead the scared critters far around the disruption in the road. 

Cerise chuckled at him and shook her head. "You know he's not gonna come back for a while, right?"

"We'll be no less heroic for him having left to ensure the safety of his girlfriend," Daring replied. "If you need to check on your father, you can take ten minutes to do so now."

Cerise froze. Felt for her hood and ensured that it still covered her ears, that the family secret hadn't been blown to pieces.

"M-my father...?" she laughed nervously. "You're confused, Daring. My _mom_ is still back home in the woods."

Daring blinked hard. He seemed to scrutinize her for a moment before shaking his head, as if trying to remove a thought from his mind. "My apologies-- you smelled like Ramona Badwolf for a second."

"Smelled?" Cerise looked at him skeptically.

Flexing his hands, willing them to return from claws to human fingers, Daring answered. "It's this... accursed  _beast thing_. Better strength, better sense of smell... well. She's _obviously_ been tampering with your clothing. That's the only explanation."

"I'll, um, have to get her back for that," Cerise answered, relieved that he'd offered a viable excuse. "I mean, that's _gross_ , who even puts their smell on other peoples' clothes? Anyways, I'm going for that next patrol now. Don't let anyone fall into that pothole."

"Hah!" Daring barked. "Never fear-- no pothole is a match for Daring Charming!"

"Just don't get distracted and tumble into it, or something," Cerise elbowed him lightly before taking off.

It was dangerous, she thought, to spend further time around him-- especially if he were capable of eventually discerning that the scent did not emanate from her clothing, but she herself. In the past year, however much Cerise had grown to respect her friend and Bookball captain, that was still a far cry from trusting him with a secret of this magnitude. Maybe it was smart to make her rounds a little bit slower this time, she decided, and set on a quick detour just to make sure Ramona and their father were faring all right.

Daring had been correct about one thing, at least-- she _was_ worried about her family. Phone calls were one thing, but they did little to assuage one's anxieties. She wondered about Dexter and Darling, too, and made up her mind to take watch next so the third member of the guard squad could check in on his own siblings.

That was _until_ she made her pass by Mirror Lake. Cerise couldn't help but gape at the sight before her, for a moment, stunned into silence. The water seemed to drain away by the inch, and when the shock wore off, Cerise carefully tapped her microphone into activation.

"Dexter, can you hear me?" she choked out.

Fritz and static, briefly, and some background noise, but then: "I hear you, Cerise. What's up?"

"Mirror Lake," she said, taking several steps backwards. "It's _gone_."

* * *

When Raven Queen heard that report, she could little believe it. Slowly, she set down her papers, and looked towards Dexter, far from calm himself.

"What do you mean... Mirror Lake is gone?" she managed to say.

"Cerise, can you explain it?" Dexter forwarded the question. "Wait-- let me put you on speaker..."

"I meant what I said," Cerise's voice crackled out into the classroom. "One moment, Mirror Lake was there. The water started draining away, so I thought it'd be like the pothole out front. But not... _this_. The whole lake and most of the shore started falling away in huge chunks, and it's not like the other one. You could see stars in the other one, but this time, when you look down... it's just black, empty darkness. I can't even tell if there's a bottom or not..."

"Mirror Lake is pretty big. It's almost three acres' groundspace," Alistair began to mark it out on their map. "That might be the biggest one yet..."

"You can still see the other shore," Cerise shuddered. "It's just hanging in midair... it's maybe ten feet deep at its thickest point. You can see tree roots everywhere. Seriously eerie."

"Did anything... you know... _alive_ fall in?" Cupid hesitated.

"Hunter evacuated the Enchanted Forest earlier today," Cerise replied, unsure if she were only reassuring herself. "I didn't see anything... but I guess the fish wouldn't have had anywhere else to go."

"Meeshell Mermaid!" Farrah exclaimed suddenly. "Isn't she _rooming_ in Mirror Lake this year??"

"Does anyone have her contact information?" Ginger worried her lower lip.

"Well, she _is_ hextremely shy," Maddie rummaged through her hat for her own MirrorPhone. "Do I have it...? Oh. No, I don't."

"All right everyone, let's split up and search the school grounds," Raven clapped her hands together. "Professor Giles... Dex..."

"I will be most willing to remain and continue our study," Giles Grimm nodded, approving.

"And I'll keep you updated on news from Cerise and Daring," Dexter directed a thumbs-up at her.

West pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. He seemed as if he were about to say something, and then thought better of it as he hastened to join his comrades-- but not before Dexter managed to spot that strange hesitation.

Suspicion immediately rose in his mind, but Dexter shook his head and quashed that thought. He wouldn't have even entertained a second thought if it had been one of his friends, he reasoned, and maybe he was being unduly discriminatory just because West was the son of a villain. _I should know better than to judge_ , Dexter told himself, and turned to giving Cerise directions for roping off the giant gaping hole where Mirror Lake used to be, ensuring that Daring was still where he'd been stationed on the road to Book End.

And thus, none paid attention when Celadon West, son of the Wicked Witch of the West, slipped from the search parties and carefully, invisibly vanished into the Enchanted Forest.

A pair of stolen books sat beneath his cloak.


	9. Two (and a Half) Flights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How quickly can you run?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and other proverbs.
> 
> dwarf naming scheme intentional.

"Where do you want to go, Apple?" Darling questioned softly, patting Herowing's saddle from where they waited outside the hospital. Most gratefully, she did not ask whether Apple was okay-- and if Apple had been asked, she wasn't sure if she could answer truthfully.

"My mom left specific instructions in her will," Apple swallowed, bearing with her a scroll in hand. "The family castle... the basement vault."

"All right," Darling agreed, and Apple slipped in behind her, wrapping arms tightly around her waist.

"I never thanked you," Apple whispered hoarsely, mid-flight. "You didn't have to fly me around all morning."

"Friends don't let friends drive distressed," Darling answered near-automatically.

Apple held on tighter, "Is that what we are...? Friends?"

Darling bit her lip. She hesitated, and gently steered Herowing's reins.

"Friends," she admitted. "And... maybe something else, too, if you want?"

Apple sighed. "Maybe someday, if we survive all this... But, Darling, I just want you to know that there's nobody else I'd rather have with me when the world ends."

" _If_ the world ends," Darling corrected gently. "I believe in my brothers and Raven and all of our friends at Ever After High. They'll find something. I know it."

"You're right," Apple agreed, inhaling sharply. "We just have to have faith, and wish harder than ever before, and whistle while we work. We have to believe that there's an end to this, somewhere-- some way to make a _new_ Happily Ever After."

"You know it," Darling smiled. "And... for what it's worth, there's no one else I'd rather have with me at world's end, either."

With those words she carefully maneuvered her dragon down to the arcing driveway at Snow White's castle-- _Apple's castle_. A handful of dwarves rushed to take Herowing's reins from her, as if acting valet.

"Gesundheit! Pleasant!" Apple gasped at them. "Didn't I say that all of you could go home to your families in-between patrol shifts?"

"Begging your pardon, Princess," the one called Pleasant nodded. "But as far as we're concerned, the royal family _is_ our family."

"And we're not the only dwarves who feel this way," Gesundheit added. He sniffled, "We just want you to know that the dwarven community is behind you in these tough times... besides. We couldn't just let you come home to an empty castle."

"Oh, you guys," Apple's eyes misted, and she bent over at the waist to give them both a hug.

"As lovely as this scene is," drawled a particularly grumpy looking dwarf. "Queen Snow would have wanted you to finish the objectives she left you and get back to school. Time is of the essence, and you're behind schedule."

"Of course, Secretary Katt," Apple gently released the other two dwarves and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "You're always the best at keeping us on-task."

The secretary dwarf harrumphed and glanced towards Darling. She waved awkwardly, uncertain of what to do. Katt tisked and deftly stepped away from Apple.

"You. Charming, is it?" he scowled at her. "Leave the dragon out front; Pleasant and Gesundheit can take care of it. I hope you like peanut-butter-and-apple-slice sandwiches. You'll both need a healthy lunch before returning to school."

The corners of Darling's eyes crinkled with mirth. "Thank you very much, Secretary Katt. I really appreciate it."

"Humph!" he frowned, and set about ordering his coworkers.

Darling hastened inside after Apple, following as she led them down winding staircases and past a most peculiarly dilapidated set of rooms. "Dilapidated" because they were worn, the wooden boards unfinished and rags tossed every which way-- but peculiar in that Darling's eye occasionally spotted a sink with proper plumbing, a tableau for applying make-up, a concealed MirrorNet router. 

"Apple," she ventured. "What is this place?"

"The original story is that the Evil Queen makes Snow White work as a servant in her own home," Apple made her way down yet another staircase. "Every Snow White in the last two thousand years has lived in those rooms. I guess mom must have thought I'd be confined here if I was reading her... you know."

"I see," Darling answered, soft. "I guess I thought that the basement vault must have been some sort of royal treasury or something... but it's really a very personal place for the princesses of your storyline, isn't it?"

"It is," Apple gently touched upon the wall nearby-- a wall filled with messages of hope from Snow Whites long past. "Only heiresses of the royal family ever come down here... that is, heiresses, and their beloved princes."

"Oh," Darling flushed, the heat spreading to her ears. "I'm sorry-- here I've been following you without even _asking_..."

"I don't mind, Darling," Apple's gaze turned upon her, and seemed to radiate warmth. The corners of her red, red lips turned upwards. "I'm glad it's you."

Darling's heart ached for her, then, and she reached out to take Apple's hand, to squeeze it softly. "You honor me, then."

Apple set her opposite hand upon a door nearby, visually no different than any of the half-dozen doors they'd passed before this one. Magic glowed forth from its edges, unlocking itself at Apple's touch, and with a gentle nudge, she pushed it open.

The room within was a quiet sort of room, one with but a handful of creature comforts. An enormous quilt, framed against the wall, bearing nearly a hundred patches from every Snow White there ever had been. A severely worn armchair, one that had undoubtedly been upholstered and reupholstered several times. A tiny fireplace, and a large stack of wood for emergencies-- or, perhaps, merely particularly cruel Evil Queens. A lantern. A dusty book.

"It's the book we're looking for," Apple whispered, and certainly enough, a key appeared, sparkling midair, as they approached it.

"Will you open it?" Darling asked, hushed with reverence.

Apple's hand stilled merely an inch from the metal. She tightened her grip around Darling's fingers with her other hand.

"I have to," Apple answered, and took the key. She pressed it into the lock over the book, and turned.

It opened.

Apple swallowed.

"Do you..." Darling hesitated. "Do you know what story it holds?"

"No," Apple replied, glancing towards it reluctantly. There had been a time, she remembered, where she would have reveled in this proof of her destiny. Instead, unable to bear reading it alone, "Will you read it with me?"

"Of course," Darling nodded once, resolute. And thus, with joined hands, they opened that book, and there fell forth a story.

> _Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes drifted from the sky like angels' feathers, a queen sat sewing before her window, cast open wide unto the untainted snow. But as she leaned over its frame of ebony wood, she pricked her finger upon her needle, spilling three drops of her royal blood onto the canvas of winter. Struck with the beauty of such a scene, the queen thought to herself: "O! if only I had a child with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as the wood in this frame."_
> 
> _But the queen, as barren as winter itself, did not bear forth a child that year, nor the year before that, nor three years prior still. Her heart was sick with want, aching for a beautiful child to call her own, a child she could cosset and adore, a child to rule over the future of her kingdom. Her people among themselves whispered with worry as years passed ever-further into her reign, for though the queen ruled justly and wise, she had no heir to continue her gentle, good-hearted rule. And though her king loved her dearly, he too grieved for the child that would never come to be, the child that he would never cradle within his arms._
> 
> _And thus, that fateful midwinter, the queen hastened to the door of her dearest friend, the wisest sorceress there ever was. She spoke to her of these such troubles, and begged of her a boon._
> 
> _"Good sorceress," she entreated, "Please! If anyone can help me, 'tis thee. Many years have passed, and I have yet to bear a child. I yearn to hold a babe within my arms, to look upon my child's smiling face. I have seen her in my dreams, and she is a beauteous infant. I beg of thee, give me a potion or spell to bring my child into being, her skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood."_
> 
> _But the wise sorceress had seen what would come of it, deep within some witch's spell, and answered-- "Nay, friend, though your plea draws sorrow into my heart. It is writ-- you are not meant to bring a child to bear."_
> 
> _And perhaps, in some world, the queen listened, and when she passed on, left the throne to the wise and humble sorceress' daughter, whose skin was white as snow and lips as red as blood. But the desperate queen of this true realm would not hear of her friend's advice, and became convinced that she withheld a secret cure for her ails. And thus, when she set forth an exceptionally large reward for anyone who could come to her aid, so too did she receive an answer-- from the darkest of witches, her soul so unclean that pure water could melt her._
> 
> _She drank of that dark potion, and bore a child the next year, and named her Snow White after the midwinter's day the queen had first seen of her. But then, the realm itself began to shudder into catastrophe after unforeseen catastrophe._
> 
> _The wise sorceress flew into the castle of the queen, crying, "O, my dear, foolish friend, why did you not heed me? You were not meant to bring a child to bear, and now the realms shall suffer for it."_
> 
> _"I could not help myself, o wisest of all," the queen wept, and clutched her child to her bosom. "For I saw my child in dreams, and loved her at once. I am but mortal, and weak."_
> 
> _And the sorceress understood, for she was sympathetic of heart, and said thus: "I only wish you had trusted enough my judgement. Listen close, old friend, for there may be a way to undo this mistake yet. What is done has been done, and it would be a fool's errand to attempt to return to all as it was... but if I press forth, and weave a Legend from the blood of generations, we may save this realm yet."_
> 
> _"Anything," agreed the piteous queen, and offered up her own foolish life first to rectify the mistake that her own doing had wrought._
> 
> _Thus, with a heavy heart, the wise sorceress slew her dearest friend, and writ the tale of Snow White with her blood. So, too, did the royals of other kingdoms sacrifice their own, that the earth below and the sky above may remain sound and secure, and so too shall the queens of our family offer themselves up for death, evermore paying for that very first mistake._
> 
> _It is for this reason, o Snow Whites yet to come, you must not resent so deeply the Queens who have trapped you here within this wold, the Queens who have slain thy foremothers, the Queens who shall soon make attempt on your life. Nay, for remember-- they do the work of the wisest of sorceresses, and too must you someday fulfill your royal duties. Take heart, my descendants, take heart where you can. For our people shall live on, in the name of your selflessness, and your daughters-- they shall live, while they live, happily ever after._
> 
> _With love,_
> 
> _Queen Snow White II, daughter of the first Snow White_

And so it was upon that note that Apple shut the book, careful, reverent.

"So this is what it means," she breathed. "I've been preparing for my whole life to be the next Snow White... but this is what it means to be _queen_."

"Apple," Darling ventured, uncertain what comfort she could offer.

"I know why my mom wanted me to read this, now," Apple swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. "You can't... you can't rule as queen without learning that there are _consequences_ for the things you do. All the ruin and danger and even _death_ outside..."

"It's not your fault," Darling insisted. "You didn't have any _choice_ in being born in your storyline!"

"It doesn't matter if it's my fault or not," Apple shook her head. "The world is in danger, and it's because of _my_ ancestor... and I chose to be a royal. I've chosen to honor the spirit of royal tradition, and that means more than inheriting kingdoms or crowns or legends... it means inheriting _responsibility_."

The pieces clicked in Darling's mind. "Apple, no, whatever you're thinking..."

"I'm not sure what I'm thinking," Apple sighed, and tucked the book into her bag. "The world itself is tearing at the seams, and I might be able to do something to save it... to save everyone I care about. To save... you."

Solemnity hung in the air between them.

"Raven." Darling's expression became determined. "She'll know what to do. If something can be done, or should be done... we're supposed to trust our sorceress, right?"

"Of course," Apple's fingers joined with hers once more, and squeezed. "I hope Herowing's ready to make another flight."

"We always are," Darling replied, and together, they raced back up the stairs.

* * *

"Meeshell!" Cupid called, worry tinging her voice. "Meeshell!"

Maddie checked beneath a desk, "Meeshell?"

"I don't think she'd be hiding under a desk, Maddie," Cupid shook her head, but hexted Raven that they'd searched there anyways. "We've looked everywhere. I just... I don't know where she could _be_ , except..."

"My hat?" Maddie suggested, beginning to rummage through it. "Let's see... oh! This might be her!"

She yoinked a swordfish from her hat. It insisted, "I say! Leave a fellow to his fencing!" and Maddie released it, re-situating the hat on her head.

"Or, um, maybe not," the Wonderlandian shrugged. "We just have to think extra, extra super-dee-duper hard about where she'd want to go if the world was ending and her dorm room was being swallowed up by the super-dangerous, incredibly terrifying void of existential DOOM. Oh! How about the castleteria? It's taco day for lunch!"

"Somehow, I don't think tacos were the first thing on her mind," Cupid managed a smile. "I mean... you're one of maybe five students who've exchanged more than a few words with her. What do you know about her?"

"I'm not really sure if this can help, buuuut," Maddie took a deep breath. "So she's the daughter of the Little Mermaid, and she really likes to sing though of course she doesn't do it much where people can hear, and even though whenever you see her in class or in town or really basically anywhere that isn't the school pool, she has legs, whenever after she touches water, they turn back into fins! Oh, and of course, you remember the talent show last Chapter Day, and how her fins go right back into legs whenever she's not in tea-- I mean, _water_ , but tea works too though once I think she mentioned swimming in tea is--"

"Water!" Cupid exclaimed.

"No, silly, I'm talking about _tea_ ," Maddie bopped her on the nose. "There's a very, very big difference between those. Why, I was just saying that Meeshell doesn't like to swim in tea, and furthermore, water is way less tasty, and that's all I know about Meeshell Mermaid! Maybe she went for afternoon tea?"

"Or maybe she went somewhere there's a lot of water," Cupid suggested, hurrying out of the classroom. "Aside from Mirror Lake, only a couple of places at school have enough water to really _swim_. And I think the school pool is at the top of that list."

"It sounds a little far fetched, but maybe-- just maybe-- it'll work," Maddie hastened to follow her. "It's not hopeless yet!"

 Sure enough, the next text Raven received on her phone: 'School pool. We found her. -CA'

Maddie lifted herself out of the water, soaking from head to toe, having dived down to check for Meeshell beneath the surface, where she could have been hiding for _hours_. She shook herself like a dog emerging from a bath, coming out of that perfectly dry.

Cupid shivered, drenched by the resultant splash.

"Did you decide to go for a swim, too?" Maddie turned her head to the side, curious. "The water's nice today, but we really shouldn't tarry-- Raven's probably worked herself into a worry-flurry already!"

"I think that's her text, now," Cupid fumbled for her phone, grateful that she'd splurged for the water-resistant model. "She's glad that Meeshell's okay, and she says Professor Grimm found something. We're supposed to go back to the classroom... you can go on ahead, I need to change clothes super-quick."

"Why, we'll have that done in a jiffy," Maddie grinned, and pulled her hat over Cupid entirely.

The inside of Maddie's hat was utterly indescribable-- even to Cupid, who had only been inside less than three seconds and had only seen the teeny-tiniest portion of what was held therein. But all that mattered was that when the hat was lifted back over where she stood, and they were both wholly in the eaves of the school pool once more, Cupid was wearing clothes that were completely dry-- and, if she had to be honest, actually not all that different from an outfit she might have picked out herself.

Truthfully shocked, Cupid's first instinct was to blurt something out: "I didn't know you owned anything like this..."

Maddie grinned. "Why, it looks like we have something in common-- I didn't know I owned anything like that, either!"

Something warm bloomed in Cupid's chest, something that made itself known as a laugh spilled from her lips. "I appreciate the sentiment, at least, even if I don't _completely_ get the gesture."

"Why, thank you very much!" Maddie beamed back. "Now let's hurry-scurry back to the classroom. Giles-- I mean, _Professor_ Giles-- always has something smart to say!"

"Wait up!" Cupid exclaimed as Maddie bounded away, rollicking through the halls. "Maddie! We can walk!"

Maddie ran juxtaposed to her on the ceiling, "But why walk... when you can fly?"

Cupid gave that a second's thought, "You stumped me, I don't get that riddle."

"Ohoho! It's not a riddle, silly," Maddie giggled, landing back upon the floor behind her. She spread her fingers over Cupid's wings, "I mean, you can fly!"

"I mean..." Cupid began, hesitant. "I have wings."

"All creatures winged whose voices sing can soar across the sky," Maddie riddled. "But if they walk and merely talk, their reasoning is why?"

"I've never... really tried to fly before?" Cupid winced sheepishly, unsure how she could explain that for all her life prior to this moment, she had worn wings of bone... which were definitively not conducive to flight for obvious reasons.

"No time like the present," Maddie advised. "Besides... don't you want to know if you can? Even just once?"

Unspoken was the hanging threat of the end that was nigh. The thought that she might not be able to try this ever again, because everything would come to a close.

"All right," Cupid took a deep breath, and perhaps infected by the madness of the hour, threw herself off the nearest banister with a running start, squeezing her eyes shut.

Panic set in, and she thought, _this is how baby birds learn to fly, isn't it?_ Instinct, instinct. She flapped her wings, willing them to beat in the air. She felt herself begin to lift a little, to wobble and sway midair, and she flapped harder, as hard as she could.

But it was no use, she was falling, and just as she was about to hit the ground--

Soft.

Cupid creaked open an eye. She was lying on top of an enormous marshmallow.

"Great galloping gumdrops, Cupid!" Maddie seemed out of breath, having rushed to the bottom of the staircase herself. "You really scared me there!"

"You were the one who told me to jump," Cupid creaked out, rolling off the (really, spectacularly bouncy) marshmallow.

"I would never ever _ever_ ask a friend to do something that might get them hurt," Maddie carefully shoved the giant marshmallow back into her hat from whence it came. "I told you to fly... not jump off a staircase. In Wonderland, the bubbles usually catch you, but you have to remember-- and this is hextremely important-- Ever After isn't the same. It's spellbinding in it's own way, but sometimes... it's _dangerously_ normal."

"Right. I'm-- maybe I'm just not thinking straight. I didn't sleep all night, and I guess I'm just... tired. Or going mad," Cupid dusted herself off, confectioner's sugar flying everywhere.

"Well, when we get back to the classroom, I know just what can set you right back to your usual self... a big mug of hot cocoa!" Maddie helpfully patted off her skirts. She winked, "Besides... I have it from an excellent source that there is more than enough marshmallow in my hat for one."

Cupid ventured a chuckle and turned down the next hallway, met with Raven almost instantaneously.

"I heard a loud noise... is everything okay here?"

Maddie exchanged a look with Cupid. They tried to suppress it for as long as they could before bursting into laughter.

"I jumped off the staircase," Cupid confessed, nearly crying with mirth.

"What?" Raven seemed alarmed. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Of course she isn't hurt, silly," Maddie elbowed her, giggling wildly. "Not when there are still marshmallows to be had!"

"Both of you sound pretty stressed from the situation," Raven gestured to the classroom. "Maybe you should take a break. Maybe, um, get started on afternoon tea a little early?"

"That sounds perfect," Cupid agreed, and fluffed out her wings. Sugar once more flew everywhere, and Maddie couldn't conceal just one giggle more.

"All right," Raven announced, "Cupid and Maddie are back. Now, the only person who's still missing is West."

"I can catch you guys up on Professor Grimm's new theory," Farrah smiled back at them, ushering them over to a pile of books. "How confident are you in your writing?"

"I... well, I can't say I'm particularly _good_ at writing," Cupid thought, briefly, on the dozens of tomes of romance tales she'd written, shoved shamefully underneath her bed. "I guess I _do_ write a lot, though."

"I'm good at writing riddles," Maddie began distributing hot cocoa.

"Great! Start writing stories, as many as you can, about all of our friends and families," Farrah pushed notebooks into their hands. "Run the ideas by Blondie, first... she can tell which ones are just right. They'll be true stories, or stories that will become true once they're acted out. We need as many writers as we can find... Professor Grimm is already working on translating some of Holly's friend-fiction stories into Runes. Then, afterwards, we'll act out our new stories, and collect the magical energy from them."

"There's just one thing that bothers me," Raven bit her lip, scrolling through a list of texts for a brief moment. "Even though I hexted everyone to come back, West still hasn't responded... and now that I'm looking at it, I don't think he ever hexted me about finding Meeshell, either. Maybe something happened to him?"

"M... maybe," Dexter hesitated. "I, um. I didn't mention it before, because I thought I was just assuming things, but he was acting kind of... off. Right before you all left to look for Meeshell."

"One of my history books seems to be missing as well," Giles Grimm, rummaged through a pile of them.

"Excuse me, pardon me," Lizzie huffed, bustling into the room. "Well! You all certainly seem to have a lot of books, don't you? Perhaps one of _you_ can tell me where my map-book went?"

"Wait... what's missing, exactly?" Raven tried to garner at least some sense of what was going on.

"The book that my mother gave me, so I could find the Well of Wonder whenever I wish," Lizzie explained. "If the world is ending, then I want to be at home with my mother when it happens."

"How peculiar," Giles Grimm muttered. "Because the book _I'm_ missing is about the Evil Queen's curse on Wonderland..."

"You don't think..." Cupid hesitated.

"I don't know if I _want_ to think," Raven shuddered. "I mean... nobody would want to bring about the end of the world intentionally, right?"

"He did know an awful lot about the theory," Farrah ventured. "More than maybe even my aunt. Maybe he knows something he doesn't want to _share_."

"But that means any amount of the information we've gathered so far could be wrong!" Humphrey Dumpty looked horrified. "Things he said, books he contributed..."

"Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions," Raven intervened. "Maybe he just got stressed and went to get lunch. And... he's a new student, right? It's not that hard to get lost in the halls."

"And the books?" Dexter furrowed his brow. "The hexts?"

"Books go missing all the time," Raven shrugged. "And maybe his MirrorPhone's out of battery?"

"All at the same time?" Lizzie questioned pointedly.

"Whether there has been or will be a villain in our midst matters not," Giles Grimm stood from his desk. "We must carry on in our labors, and hope that they are not lost. Come, Lizzie Hearts-- we had a portal to Wonderland arranged in the Headmaster's office over the summer. You shall be by your mother's side in no time."

"Thank you, Professor," Lizzie sniffed. "I shall be glad to warn my mother of these events posthaste-- if our traitor is in Wonderland still, then our army shall not rest until he is brought to kneel!"

"Mind if I tag along?" a disembodied smile graced the air beside Lizzie for a moment, the rest of Kitty Cheshire appearing a mere second later. "You're not the only one who wants to see her mom."

"Of course I'll offer you the same, Miss Cheshire," Giles agrees, and opened the door to lead them away.

A moment passed, only the sounds of quills scratching paper filling the room.

"You're sure of what you saw?" Raven sighed, sliding into her seat beside Dexter.

"He was hesitating... kind of lingering," Dexter fiddled with a wire. "I don't know if it means anything, though."

"Let's hope it doesn't mean anything," Raven answered grimly, beginning to turn back to her own story.

But, just before she set the pen to paper-- "Raven!" Apple cried, bursting into the room with her own book in hand. "I know how we can fix this!"

" _Maybe_ ," Darling corrected. "We _maybe_ found a way to fix this, but you have to tell us..."

"Raven," Apple repeated, swallowing. She held out the book, the story which had been kept secret within the bowels of Snow White's castle for generations. "Raven... I have something you need to read."

"I'll talk to both of you outside the classroom," Raven nodded solemnly and stood. "Everyone here-- keep writing! Don't stop now, when we're so close to finding the solution!"

She nudged her way out and stood in the hall.

"What were you saying about a solution?" Darling furrowed her brow, ever seeking the alternative.

"We're trying to write as many stories as we can... as many different stories as there can be," Raven explained. "It's... well, it's slow. But if we want to have any hope of recreating that storybook-linchpin thing..."

"I might have... a _quicker_ solution," Apple sucked in her breath. "I just need you to hear me out."

"I'm listening," Raven answered, slow and cautious.

 _Wise sorceress_ , remembered Apple. And so she loosened her grip on the book she clutched in her hands, and began to read aloud those words which spoke the truth of all matters.

"Once upon a time, in the middle of winter..."


	10. Flying Is Only Unfalling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cupid begins to learn how to unfall, however steep the learning curve and however deeply she loves.
> 
> Darling takes to the skies, already a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "new antagonist" sounds like something you would name an emo rock band... though "fall out boy" has a _really_ great band name tbh.

"Well?" Raven asked quietly, hoping beyond hope of the contrary. "Would it work?"

Dexter pushed up his glasses and sighed. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Raven. I mean... with enough stories, it sounds actually pretty feasible. This might be our best hope of successfully fixing everything, once and for all... It's just, well, I wish..."

"I know," Raven hesitated, then took his hand. "Me too."

"It would change everything back to the way it was supposed to be. Not like... _Storybook of Legends_ supposed to be," Dexter made sure to clarify, "But the way things were _really_ supposed to be, before anyone had ever heard of a fairytale at all. When destiny was just something made-up, told in silly stories to entertain kids... before 'happily ever after' became a thing."

"That sounds like a dream, but..." Raven sighed. "I can't. I couldn't even bring myself to _poison_ Apple when I knew she'd wake up after maybe a week. And now, the world rests on my ability to k-kill..."

"I could be wrong," Dexter hurried to assure her. "I mean. 1 to 26 odds of it, which is pretty good."

"That means it's 26 times more likely that you're _right_ about it," Raven shuddered. "I can't do it, Dex. Even if I managed to get past... that part... there's still the whole 'scribing the storybook in blood' thing. I just... I can't do it. She's my friend."

Dexter paused and thought of something, "You know, a friend of mine once told me that I shouldn't focus on what I can't do... and think about what I _can_ do."

Raven followed his line of sight-- _Cupid_ , she thought. Of course. Few were wiser than she, when it came to following one's heart.

"Your friend sounds pretty smart," Raven ventured a smile. "You're right... we won't think about it until it's our last resort."

Dexter just lightly squeezed her hand, turning pink to the tips of his ears from the contact. Raven flushed and softly squeezed back.

Then, Dexter's headset pinged, the moment utterly disturbed.

"Little bro, are you in?" Daring's voice cracked from the headset.

Dexter reluctantly released Raven's hand to pick up the call, "I hear you, Daring. What's going on?"

"The village isn't holding up well," he answered, seeming to heave some heavy object on the other end. "Cerise and Hunter are already evacuating the citizens of Book End-- I need you ask Headmaster Grimm to give them shelter. The _school_ , at least, is still intact."

Dexter glanced up at the classroom.

"I'll get a team together to get blankets and bedding," Apple volunteered.

"I'll post the evacuation notice to my MirrorBlog," Blondie added, already typing furiously.

"I'll cook together a nice, warm stew-- I'm sure they'll be hungry," Ginger offered.

" _I'm_ taking Herowing and going into Book End to help rescue people," Darling lifted her chin, as if daring Dexter to try to stop her.

"Just... be careful," Dexter stood, and ran a hand through his hair in worry. "I've got to go run for Headmaster Grimm."

"You may wish to check the castleteria," Giles Grimm glanced up. "My brother has never been able to say no to a good taco." 

Dexter nodded, sighing faintly. He tried to offer Raven a reassuring smile, though he'd never been particularly good at keeping his smiles anything less than wonky, faintly askew.

"I'll get us a teleport there," Raven wiggled her fingers, summoning forth a purple miasma, and in the next second, the pair of them vanished.

But, in the eyes of at least one other, the sight of their soft exchange lingered on still.

Cupid tapped her paper, thus far only filled with doodles as she tried to brainstorm ideas. 'C+D' encased in elaborate hearts, arrows, curlicues. She glanced forth at the place where Dexter and Raven had once stood, and promptly tore the paper from her notebook, crumpling it up into a ball before depositing it in the trash.

"Blondie," she said reluctantly. "I have an idea for the storybook."

And so, after Blondie's enthusiastic approval, Cupid gathered her notebook to her chest, writing the story that was the beginning to so very many of her own daydreams.

> _Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a young cherub-- or, as some may call them, a Cupid. These winged, immortal beings were at once children and servants alike to Eros, the God of Love, assigned to help every creature learn to follow their hearts and someday find their true loves._
> 
> _Thus far with her voice of reason, the Cupid had guided several couples to their heart's delight. And where love grew misguided or unrequited, she held her bow and arrows at the ready, prepared to strike infatuation into the heart of a proud or stubborn match, unable to admit their feelings even to themselves, or to strike a temporary distaste into a persistent, noisome suitor unrelenting. Like a tender gardener, she attended the growth of love so that it may bear fruit._
> 
> _Though dearly she loved this job, there was yet one feeling the Cupid desired to know above all others: to experience true love for herself, if even but once._
> 
> _And thus, she set out from her home and traveled forth, seeking out love for herself as well as others. With her arrows, she helped some, and with her voice, many, many more. And though she found many discontent hearts and mended their ails, still, her heart did not find the one it was meant for._
> 
> _But then-- eyes of blue captured her sight, set gloriously upon the face of that most Charming Prince. Those windows into their bearer's soul betrayed a gentle heart, one fraught with uncertainty but still yet filled with good intent and devotion. Cupid could see deep, deep within his heart, and could feel the depth of love he held within, trapped beneath the surface, a love that ached to come forth._
> 
> She fell in love, then, as surely as she fell into the ocean-blue of that one gaze.

Nearly drifting off into that sweetest dream, Cupid nearly put down those words she was most accustomed to writing: 'he fell for her, too, in his tender heart-- though his mind did not realize it yet.' But she shook the clouds from her eyes, in that moment, and though she loved, though she dreamed still... Cupid set her jaw and began to write the truth of it.

> _But the Prince whose eyes shone as beautifully as the stars held his heart for another, an affection yet unspoken. No worthier a woman could there be to hold his heart, a beautiful sorceress whose hair hung black as a Raven's wing, whose eyes shone like amethysts concealed deep within stone having met their first taste of the light. Not even Eros himself could have fathomed a pair so well-matched in temperament, kindness, loyalty._
> 
> _The Charming Prince, however, could see little potential in himself. Where the Cupid could see only beauty within him, he himself saw only unworthiness-- fear that he would never be able to match that brave sorceress fair. He was afraid to place that most vulnerable heart on the line, though it swelled heavy with the weight of his feelings._
> 
> _The Cupid tried to console him, but each time: where her advice had rung true for the others she'd advised, these words rang with the edge of hollow falsity, for she did not mean them from the very bottom of her heart. Her secret hope, secret from even herself, was that the one she loved would fail in this endeavor, and then the gentle blue of his gaze would turn towards the Cupid, and see how amazing their love could be._
> 
> _But the kind sorceress could not remain blind to the prince's affections forever, and a gentle poem brought his love to light. It stirred something within her, awakened that amethyst-heart until its affection grew. And when she met the eyes of that Charming Prince, that shining sorceress fell for him, too._
> 
> _Bitter, cruel envy nestled in the Cupid's heart, a feeling she had known never before. It weighed down her winged soul like poison-lead, and drew her into the depths of despair._
> 
> _"One prick," she whispered to herself, soft, soft, fingers gliding over those arrows of distaste. She could sever this love in an instant, she thought, and clenched within her fist her bow. An arrow of distaste for each was all it would take for those fragile, cautious feelings to dissipate. An arrow of infatuation for the prince, to turn his sights to her._
> 
> _But when she looked upon them, gentle and shy but shining brightly, as brightly as oceans and amethysts alike in the light-- the goodness within her own heart spoke up, "It would be wrong."_
> 
> _And so she snapped those arrows and tossed them to the ground, and gazed upon the prince and his beloved, watching as their hearts flew to heights the Cupid hadn't even known could exist. She, with her own leaden heart, knew then that she still yet had much to learn about the nature of love._
> 
> _She had cast away her wings with those arrows, perhaps the one chance her heart would ever have to soar. Thus did she return to her work upon the earth, never more to lift above the ground-- and there still yet she bides her time, walking among the mortals, and waiting, yes, waiting for her heart to someday teach her how to truly fly._
> 
> _The End._

Cupid wiped her cheek and shut the notebook. She stood, and handed it carefully to Blondie, her hand leaving the book's cover reluctantly, as if even her fingers knew what she was truly letting go of for good with this fairytale. Blondie accepted the notebook eagerly, and Cupid felt something in herself sink. She watched her friend's expression falter, momentarily, soft pity settling into her eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry, Cupid. I won't say a word about it," Blondie's unusual tact almost made it even harder to let go.

"That doesn't matter right now," Cupid swallowed, feeling very much like she was going to cry. "Was it good? Will it work?"

"That story was... that story told it just like it is," Blondie nodded, sliding the notebook into the pile of stories awaiting translation. "It was _just right_."

And then, with a voluminous puff of lavender smoke, Raven and Dexter made their timely reappearance in the room, stumbling faintly from the teleportation, laughing and bearing many, many takeout containers.

"You were right about the castleteria, Professor Grimm," Raven nudged her pile of takeout containers on top of the nearest empty desk. "We caught the Headmaster just as he was heading out; he approved the refuge for the citizens of Book End."

"We, uh, figured you guys might be hungry? And... well, it _is_ Taco Tuesday," Dexter tried to find another empty desk, nearly tripping over the enormous piles of books strewn over the ground. "W-woah!"

"I got you!" Raven caught the takeout boxes with her magic, and placed a balancing hand on Dexter's shoulder. "You almost went flying, there... that would've been a pretty nasty fall."

"Thank you, then," Dexter smiled at her, sheepish but sincere. "I'm glad you were around."

A moment passed, and then two, and Cupid finally, softly, broke out into the tiniest of smiles. She felt the enormous weight within her chest begin to lighten its load, though not yet wholly freed of the burden of that chapter in her tale.

"The opposing side a coin of quarrel bears the flight of dove and laurel," Maddie reminded abruptly.

And so, too, Cupid's mind was drawn towards the events on the staircase. How quickly, how foolishly she had learned to fall. How Maddie had all but begged her to fly. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she wondered just exactly how much Maddie had known of what Cupid felt in her heart, wondered just how much she had seen.

"I guess that means you ought to be first to get your tacos," Raven chuckled, not understanding wholly.

"Yay, tacos!" Maddie clapped her hands, looking for all the world as mad as she was.

But when she winked, knowingly winked-- only Cupid saw.

* * *

Darling Charming could little believe her eyes when she saw the Village of Book End, scarcely able to reconcile the sight with her own recollection of it.

"Help!" Poppy cried, leaning out of the upper window of a trembling Tower Hair Salon, and Darling could think about the matter no longer. She and Herowing burst into action, drawing Poppy from the tower mere seconds before it was about to fall.

"Watch out!" Darling cried below, cringing as the intimidating mass of stone was set to fall on a crowd of patrons fleeing from Hocus Latte.

"Never fear!" a hulking white blur leveraged himself between the stone and the helpless citizens, even still but scarcely holding it up with his tremendous strength. "Cerise! Hunter!"

"We've got it!" Hunter answered, hurriedly hefting the slower citizens from beneath the falling mass as several of them ran.

Cerise, carrying five or six people at once, hastily helped clear the area. "We're clear, Daring!"

The eldest Charming huffed, and with a sound rather more like a wheeze, he let the falling remnants of tower down to the ground. He rammed his headset, "As much as I hate to admit it... little bro, we need reinforcements!"

"Your reinforcements are already here," Darling swooped down in front of them.

"Man, you and Herowing are _definitely_ a sight for sore eyes," Cerise grinned, patting the dragon's nose.

"I didn't bring a dragon, but I can lead the others to safety," Poppy volunteered.

"If you can lead them back to school, we would royally appreciate it," Darling nodded at her.

"And if you see a pothole in the road, make sure to go around it," Hunter advised. "It's the same thing that's causing all _this_ here in Book End. Dangerous."

"All right." Poppy nodded before running to catch up with the crowd of fleeing civilians, warning them as loudly as she could.

"I think I see a building on fire," Darling exclaimed from her vantage point on dragonback. "It's in the West Quarter! We have to hurry before it spreads across the apartments."

Daring hefted himself onto Herowing right behind his sister. "We'll meet you there!"

Cerise and Hunter looked up at him, and then towards each other. They nodded in tandem, and Hunter, being the slower of the two, tried not to let his heroic pride hurt as he let Cerise run for both of them... piggyback-style.

Looking at her now, Hunter was almost embarrassed he had ever considered her to be anything _nearing_ a damsel in distress, destiny or nay. Fairy Godmother, he hoped she wouldn't enter next year's damsel-carrying race... and, for that matter, he certainly hoped there would be a next year at all. But there was no time to think on it as Hunter rushed to whack loose the wheel of a fire hydrant with his axe and direct the resultant water forth unto the flame, leaving the charmed spray to work on its own as he assisted Daring and Darling in busting open doors to free those trapped inside.

Much to the extreme relief of all, their quick work had managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighboring apartments, where another team of heroes labored to evacuate all its residents before more fires caught, everyone clustering outside as a whistle and a sharp order sent a small coalition of heroes to lead the citizens to safety at Ever After High, their designated emergency shelter.

"You and you, check that nobody's been left behind," King Charming barked, directing orders to his men. His eyes alighted on the terrifying beast that carried two frightened citizens over each shoulder, "And you! Beast! Unhand those innocent civilians at once, lest you taste my steel."

"Dad?" Daring seemed surprised to see him, least of all in his own current form. He pressed a citizen each into Cerise and Hunter's arms, for the civilians had leg injuries preventing them from making their escape as hastily as they wished.

"Dad!?" King Charming turned very, very red.

"Dad!" Darling cried, drawing herself in between the two. "That so-called beast is just Daring! And he's been using his new strengths to _save people_."

"Darling!" King Charming promptly went pale. " What are _you_ doing here? You are surely not so serious about pretending to be be a hero that you endanger yourself like this?"

"I'm not endangering myself any more than you are, Dad," Darling scowled. "And I'm not _pretending_ to be a hero. I _am_ one."

"But... but..." he sputtered. "But you're a damsel! And damsels do not gallivant about in dangerous, collapsing, _burning_ buildings!"

" _Darling_ is as much of a hero as I ever was," Daring's furred chest seemed to fluff in fraternal pride. "And you should see her Fireman's Carry."

"I'm not finished talking to you either, son," King Charming rubbed at his budding headache. "You are far from following the Twelve Tenets of Looking Good that all Charmings adhere to. Besides, I thought we agreed! You and Dexter would protect your sister!"

"Sorry, Dad, but I don't _need_ to be protected," Darling huffed. "And Daring's saved tons of people, _especially_ as a beast. You should have seen him when I got here, Dad... he was holding up the _entire_ Tower Hair Salon to stop it from falling on a huge crowd of innocent people! With nothing but his own hands... um, paws!"

"I... well, that _is_ impressive," King Charming couldn't help but admit. His mood quickly soured, "But I don't seem to see _your brother_ anywhere. Where is he now... off playing with computers while we fight for our lives?"

"Helping to write a spell that could  _save_ all our sorry lives," Darling bit, frustrated to the core. She hopped onto Herowing once more, "Daring and I will see you after we finish evacuation. We're not having this conversation without Dexter."

King Charming nodded once, cautiously. He agreed, "The people come first."

On that note, he watched as two of his three children left his company on dragonback. It was the sort of image he had long dreamed of, his most heroic children teaming up to fight some long-lost evil. But he had imagined that those two children would be Daring and Dexter, with the latter along as a bumbling assistant and their sister presumably safe at home. Never had he imagined that one of them would take the form of a very large, very furry-- and, if he had to admit it, sort of intimidating-- beast. And so, with those unlikeliest of forms superimposed over the vision he had once held in his imagination, King Charming did the only thing he could do.

He whistled his heroes back. "Men, to the South Quarter! We have a town to save!"

* * *

But, too... far, far away in the quiet corners of Wonderland, a knight of a different color stood careful guard at the gates of Wonderland High, keeping watch over the 364-day holiday, the very last among those who would stay. And thus, it was only Chase Redford who saw as a startling, verdant figure appeared in a puff of deep orange smoke and flame.

"You're trespassing on school grounds, sir," he steadied himself, lifting his blade defensively. "School is _not_ in session today. Please remove yourself from school property and attend in one hundred fifty one days--"

"Hm," a sly, black-lipped grin peeked out from beneath his wide-brimmed witch's hat. "One knight. You'd think they'd make it more of a challenge, if they didn't want people getting onto school grounds. Perhaps I should have a talk with your... _principal_."

"Our former principal has left school, and therefore it falls to the acting vice-principal to be principal," Chase scowled beneath his helmet. "And the current acting vice-principal is also the school attendance officer. Which means the person you want is  _me_."

"Well," enunciated the wizard slowly, dark lips forming each syllable. "I suppose, then, it's a matter of principle."

"It is," Chase cautiously agreed.

A grim chuckle. "You give up your weakness too easily, knight. It almost makes me wonder-- how would you stand up against someone utterly  _un_ principled?"


	11. A Semi-Charming Kind of Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chance to reconcile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i find the charming family dynamic to be fascinating

"All right, everyone is here and accounted for," Apple sighed in relief, checking the last of Book End's civilians off her list. "Ginger, how is getting everyone fed coming along?"

"Looking good," Ginger managed a smile, passing off another hefty cauldron of stew to one of the many people who'd volunteered to help distribute. "700 meals made, and counting. We should be able to start distributing desserts, soon."

"You're spelltacular, Ginger," Apple smiled back. Then, as she turned her eyes towards the entryway, "Hunter! Cerise! You're both back!"

"Hunter?" Ashlynn visibly brightened at that mention. She hurried up to him. "Thank goodness everyone's all right! I was so worried when King Charming brought back all the villagers, and you weren't there..."

"I'm all right, though I definitely got more of a workout than I was expecting today," Hunter rubbed a sore muscle. He winced when his hand came away with mud stuck to it, "And I definitely need a bath."

"We split up from Daring and Darling to take care of the suburbs around Book End before the problem spread," Cerise explained. "They should be back soon... Daring tapped in and said they were canvassing the town again to make sure nobody was left behind."

"They wouldn't let each other get hurt," Apple answered, unsure of who she was reassuring. "I'm... I'm sure they're all right."

"Can I get a few words from you guys?" Blondie popped in, carrying her microphone. Humphrey Dumpty, to the surprise of all, seemed to have substituted Dexter as her cameraman temporarily.

Cerise and Hunter looked at each other for a moment.

"I don't mind it, as long as Hunter doesn't care about going on screen with mud in his hair," Cerise snickered.

"I make it look ruggedly handsome," Hunter grinned, his girlfriend offering her enthusiastic agreement. "Besides... I'm not the one with soot all over my cloak."

"All right Blondie, we're on," Cerise nodded.

"All right, Humphrey, hit record," Blondie sprung enthusiastically into her reporter mode. "Blondie Lockes here from Ever After High, where the citizens of Book End are taking refuge in these difficult times. With me now are Cerise Hood and Hunter Huntsman, two of the heroes who helped evacuate the town. Cerise, what do you have to say to our viewers?"

"Book End and its neighboring villages are _hextremely_ unstable right now. If you're not in an emergency shelter yet, get to one now," Cerise answered. "We're only lucky that we managed to get everyone in Book End out safely."

"How about you, Hunter?" Blondie turned the microphone to him.

"Wherever you are, I think it's important to spend time with your loved ones as much as you can," he squeezed Ashlynn's hand and met her eyes for a moment. "Other than that, just stay safe. Don't forget that your animal friends instinctively know when there's danger afoot; it may be wise to follow their leads."

"You've heard the situation as we have it," Blondie nodded, and the returning heroes departed to (predictably) get clean. "Princess Regent Apple White... do you have anything to say on this matter?"

"This is a very, very unfortunate situation, and I'm deeply worried about all my subjects," Apple wore a grave expression. "The students and faculty of Ever After High are attempting to find a solution, and it is my understanding that Headmaster Grimm is in MirrorChat meetings with a number of other academics. We are all working with one goal in mind: to save our world from crumbling as it does outside, and to ensure your safety. Many emergency shelters have magical wards to delay this universal decay, and I can't stress it enough... hasten to an emergency shelter as soon as you can. Without question, the doors of my own castle will be open to you, though I myself must remain at school."

"Thank you for your statement, Princess Regent Apple," Blondie explained as segway. She pulled from her skirt an enormous list of locations and prepared to report them all. "Snow White's Castle and Ever After High are only two of many designated emergency shelters..."

Apple smiled slightly in her direction, and began to return to work.

She was in the midst of passing out blankets and pillows to all of the Book End villagers gathered in the main hallway when Daring and Darling at last made their appearances. Pebbles and twigs were knotted in Daring's fur, clattering in a pile of debris at the door as he slowly, slowly began to will himself back into his more Charming form. His sister's dragon-riding armor was irreparably scuffed, and the ends of her long hair were muddy, but none of that mattered as Apple passed her remaining blankets to another volunteer and rushed to embrace her.

Darling flushed, but readily hugged back, "Apple!"

"You're late," Apple explained, and hoped that Darling understood the _I was worried_ she'd meant to say.

"We, um," Darling cringed a little. "We ran into dad in Book End. He had a couple of things to say."

Apple's eyes ran over the two siblings, Daring still quite desperately trying to will his paws back into fingers. She winced, "Is he still...?"

"Dad's the same as he ever was," Darling sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told him where Dexter was," Apple bit the corner of her lip. "Actually, I think your mom is somewhere around here, too."

"Mom's here?" Daring yelped, his claws abruptly morphing into hands. "Maybe I misheard you, but I thought you said that _mom and dad_ are here. At school. Both of them, at the same time."

"That's right," Apple nodded, looking perplexed. "They're both here. I think they went to find Dexter?"

"Oh no," Darling groaned, reluctantly releasing Apple from their hug. "I hate to show and run, but we have to rescue Dexter before it's too late."

"Rescue?" Apple loosed her hold, still completely confused.

Daring shivered. "You don't want to know. Where are they?"

"The last time I saw him, he was going to the Tech Club room," Apple replied.

Daring lumbered away immediately with a shout of, "Hang on, little bro! I'm coming!"

"Thank you," Darling smiled faintly in Apple's direction, but when she turned away and made a run for it, her expression was grim.

Apple pursed her lips for a moment, and sighed to herself, "I'm sure it'll go well... it's not like it's parent-teacher conference day."

* * *

The two siblings hurried down the hall into the Tech Club room, visibly flinching as they could hear the low murmur of a scolding from outside the door. Though their parents were not given to yelling, preferring more genteel disapproval, but to corner Dexter like this by himself, they were certain their brother was getting the scolding of his life.

Darling nudged Daring with a pointed glare, one that clearly said _you're the family favorite, you go in first_. Daring quailed, but where he may have before replied with something like _our parents criticize damsels more politely_ , he instead sighed and pushed open the door.

"I cannot _believe_ you would let your sister out into the horrid, horrid fray of Book End," Queen Charming seemed to sway, as if set to faint. "Did we not tell you to _protect_ her?"

Dexter flinched, but didn't say anything. He stared resolutely at a point on the floor.

"At least I saw Daring out there-- however unfortunate his _beastly_  condition might be," King Charming tutted. "It is _least_ Charming of you to hide behind stone walls and let a maiden fight in your place! You are beginning to make me think I raised a coward."

"Mom, dad," Daring announced as loudly as he could. "Darling and I were just _looking_ for you!"

"Oh, there you are, Daring-- I admit, when your father said you had turned into a beast, I feared for the worst," Queen Charming, most relieved, nearly wilted into a chair. "Please, do talk some sense into your brother!"

"Mother, you must believe me... Dexter is _far_ from craven," Daring insisted. "It is true, he has never quite managed to be so dashing, quickfooted, or muscular as I... but in all the time I've known my brother, and in all the time we've been in school, he has never even _once_ backed down from a challenge!"

"Daring," Dexter looked up at him, seeming more confident already. "That's really what you think about me??"

"It takes a brave man to try and keep pace with my own ability," Daring replied with a wink. "And I'm sure dad agrees that mission control is one of the _most challenging_ jobs in heroics."

Dexter smiled back slightly, and cleverly added, "Who was mission control for _your_ taskforce today, dad? Uncle Lance? Cousin Gallant? Grandfather?"

"... your Uncle Lance," King Charming scowled, nonplussed at having his argument challenged. "Be that as it may, you still permitted your sister to leave school grounds and enter an emergency situation unguarded."

"I don't _need_  to be coddled, dad," Darling huffed, nudging past the doorway. "And you know what? I'm just as well-trained for heroics as Daring and Dexter are!"

"Darling!" their mother shrieked, going ghastly pale and nearly fainting. "What... what in the name of Ever After are you wearing?"

"Armor," Darling answered bluntly. More courteously, "My humble apologies if my appearance offends your senses, milady, but I haven't had the time to buff and polish it since I came back from Book End."

"Oh, Darling... this is absolutely dreadful," Queen Charming removed her hand-fan and began to fan herself. "My daughter... wearing _dented armor_... oh, my. Daring, be a dear and shut the door."

Daring shrugged and shut the door. "Mother... as much as it pains me to look less than perfect-- and as much as it pains Darling, I'm sure-- it was an emergency situation."

" _No_ emergency situation calls for compromising yourself with claws and fangs," King Charming leveled a look at his son. "I am abhorred that you would be so weak as to relinquish control to the curse within you!"

"I did not _relinquish control_ to the curse," Daring straightened his back. "I called on the power of my beast form on _purpose_ , dad. And, as you can see, I am back to my regular, handsome, good-looking self now."

"And what if you had been unable to change back? What if the beast had taken over the prince you truly are?" King Charming exploded. He seemed to visibly deflate at that, "What if I lost my son to the feral nature of the beast? What if my daughter had died?"

Queen Charming took a deep sniff, determined not to let her make-up run with tears. "Your father and I had a long, long talk about it, Darling, and we agreed it would be all right if you were determined to undertake the finer points of a hero's destiny to suit your story... poetry from beneath balconies, perhaps, or dragon games, or gentlemen's fencing for sport. But your life was in danger out there-- and every dent and scratch on that armor of yours just reminds me of another way we could have lost you."

Darling softened, "You were worried about us."

"Of course we were," King Charming threw his hands up in the air. "We're your parents! And though we may not agree with how severely your destinies differ from what we'd hoped, your eventual success has ever been utmost in our minds. We can only hope your reputations are relatively untarnished after the fiasco of the last year."

"Still... there was no reason for you to take it out on Dexter," Darling straightened her back. "I'm the one who all but made him send me."

"I should have known better than to listen," Dexter looked down at his lap, "But Daring was asking for reinforcements, and Darling's the best student in the entire Heroics 102 class, maybe even better than most of the heroes in my year! You should have seen the way she tore through the start-of-year obstacle course last week... I guess I was thinking more about strengths and weaknesses and logistics than my sister's safety. I'm sorry."

"Well," King Charming hesitated. "Strengths, weaknesses, logistics... making the most out of the people you've got on hand... that _is_ the mark of a good mission control. I still don't approve of your sister having gone-- _especially_ considering the scarcity of her heroic experience-- but your choice was not completely foolish."

Dexter's entire expression lit up at that most elusive compliment, however slight it may have been. "Thank you, sir!"

"Well," Queen Charming daubed at her eyes carefully, "Now that the matter is clear, you boys had better hurry on to dinner. Darling, you must simply change out of that dreadful outfit before anyone can see you in such undignified disarray! And _my_ , is that mud in your hair?"

"Why, yes, I think that's mud... though maybe some of it is soot," Darling remarked conversationally, as if she'd been asked about a new hat.

"Well, that simply won't do," Queen Charming huffed, and stood from her perch. "You will hasten to a bath right this very minute, young lady, before your fairytale princess stumbles upon you less than utterly, completely Charming! It may be apropos for a gentleman coming from battle, but it is hardly a damsel's suited wear."

"I _am_ a hero coming from battle," Darling sighed. "And I'm very sure that Princess Regent Apple has no complaints about my garb, or else she would have mentioned them when we _met at the school entrance_."

That was as sure a sign as any that they were about to engage in yet another one of their infamous mother-daughter arguments on what was or was not appropriate for a princess to wear. King Charming shook his head and set his foot down sternly: "You and Daring will _both_ bathe before eating, and I shall have a bath as well. Heroics is not clean work. As for your garb, as long as it is clean and in better repair than what you are currently wearing, I am sure your mother will have no complaint."

"You have plenty of dinner-appropriate evening gowns," Queen Charming recommended. "And, I suppose, if you must... you likely have some sort of undented armor as well."

Darling had that look where she was suppressing an eyeroll. Dexter quirked an eyebrow at her. She raised one back, and then he understood that it was perhaps her intention to wear both-- evening gown and armor in one outfit. He sighed and shook his head; that was certainly getting to be Darling's favored style.

"I'll, um, just finish up here," Dexter lifted his welding tool and the board he'd been working on before his parents interrupted. "I told Raven I could have it done before midnight."

"Yes... speaking of your relationship to Raven Queen," King Charming narrowed his eyes.

"Well, dad, we'd better hurry to the bathrooms," Daring hurriedly intervened, smiling his you-owe-me smile in Dexter's direction. "I am _certain_ the other heroes are done using them by now, and there will be time later to discuss Dexter's work in preventing catastrophe from befalling us all at a _later time_."

"Yes, well, don't be _too_ late for dinner," King Charming harrumphed, and finally, _finally_ , Dexter was left to his peace.

Thank goodness for siblings, he thought, and welded a line of thin wire between two nodes upon his board. He added another, much more delicate one made of the magical element doserium, and rubbed slightly at the edge of a sleepy eye. _Before midnight_ , he assured himself, but could not deny that his all-nighter was catching up to him.

A quick rap upon the door, and Dexter, thinking his father had returned, merely shouted, "Come in!"

"Hey," Raven's head poked through the door. "Bad time?"

"Oh! R-Raven," he turned around, beginning to stand. "Sorry, I thought you were..."

"Yeah... I ran into your parents on the way down here," Raven smiled sheepishly. "They're, um, interesting."

"Well, they're my parents," Dexter chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "If it's about the semifractal prism collector..."

"No, it's not that. I mean... I know you've never made one before, but you're the only one besides Humphrey Dumpty who knows tech well enough to do it," Raven stumbled. "And if the instructions on the MirrorNet are too hard..."

"No! No, they're definitely not," Dexter insisted. "I mean, I've made similar things before. I guess I'm just working slower than usual..."

"The all-nighter's catching up to me, too," Raven yawned a little. She smiled tiredly, though, and held up a couple of steaming coffee-cups. "Extra mocha. I asked for triple-shot espresso... I hope you don't mind."

"Where did you get that?" Dexter accepted one of the cups with reverence. "I mean, thank you-- that's exactly what I needed. But Hocus Latte's kind of..."

Raven winced, not particularly eager to think about the destruction of Book End. "Maddie's dad is here in EAH... he somehow managed to bring like half his shop with him. I think he recruited some of the Hocus Latte baristas into helping."

Dexter looked faintly apologetic. He took a deep draught of the beverage, "It's good."

Raven drank in her own mouthful, "It definitely is. It's just what I needed to keep me awake for another few hours... I still have to figure out the rest of the binding spell that I'm meant to be casting, and I can't find the pronunciation of some of these runes _anywhere_. Not even Madam Baba Yaga knows..."

Dexter fiddled a bit with his miniature welding tool. "That sounds tough... Madam Baba Yaga is one of the most powerful and experienced magic-users alive. I think, maybe, the only one who's more powerful than her... well. You know."

"My mom," agreed Raven gravely.

"You could ask her for help?" Dexter ventured.

"And give her another chance to break out of Mirror Prison? I don't think so," Raven frowned.

"Haha... I guess it was a pretty dumb suggestion," Dexter laughed nervously, feeling a little foolish.

"It wasn't a bad idea, it's just..." Raven hesitated. "Well, she's the self-professed most-evil Evil Queen. The second she sees the spell, she'll realize how important it is. She'll want to leverage her freedom for the information. And I can't give it to her in pieces and say it's homework, or I could get the wrong pronunciations for in-context usage..."

"I mean. Yeah, she probably would," Dexter took another thoughtful sip. "But... you know, _you_ live in this world, and you're still her daughter. She can't want to let the world end while you're still in it... can she?"

"You're too good-hearted, Dex... I don't think you understand the way evil thinks," Raven sighed. "It's not about what she wants to do. It's about what she can get other people to give her while she's doing what she wants anyways. As long as she can maintain a certain level of mystery about whether her information is right or not... anyways, it's a complicated game, and I'm _terrible_ at it."

"That just shows that you're good-hearted, too," Dexter assured her. "Maybe you'll find it in the library, instead."

"I hope I do," Raven yawned and finished off her coffee. "I'll get started on that again... good luck with the semifractal prism collector?"

"Yeah. Good luck in the library," Dexter smiled tiredly back.

He cracked his knuckles and set about welding once more-- and this time, his mantra was not _before midnight_ , but _for Raven_. It was about to be a very, very long five hours ahead of him, he knew, but he was determined above all to see it through.


	12. The Queen's Gambit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T-minus three...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only a few chapters left. they are considerably shorter and more quickly-paced than earlier chapters, so i will be upping the upload times to 2x a day until the (rapidly approaching) end.

Raven woke very, very late-- or, perhaps, very, very early-- to Apple gently shaking her shoulder.

"Wake up," the princess chimed. "You asked me to make sure you woke up, so you could check on Ever After."

Raven wordlessly groaned, and rolled her pillow over her head.

"Come on, Raven," Apple shook her shoulder. "We have thirty-seven new reports."

"What time is it?" Raven yawned, slurring her words sleepily. "Apple, it can't possibly be six AM already..."

"6:01, and still ticking," Apple rebuffed. She paused and waited a moment, "Raven, hurry, you'll be late for Che-myth-stry!"

"I can't spend a month in detention!" Raven bolted up immediately, and realized where she was.

Apple giggled, "Nice to see that old trick still works."

Raven sighed, before rolling her eyes and grinning. "Being roommates with me taught you way, _way_ too much. I'm glad at least _one_ of us is laughing, though."

"Come on," Apple yawned, fully dressed but still fairly sleepy. "Thirty-seven new reports."

"All right," Raven got out of bed, shrugged on some clothes, and quickly checked to see that she hadn't mistakenly woken Maddie.

Satisfied that her present roommate was still asleep, she tiptoed from her dorm and followed Apple down the hallway.

"I thought maybe we should start with looking outside," Apple mentioned, and pushed open the windows facing towards the village of Book End. "We're... well, it's hextremely lucky that we evacuated everyone yesterday."

"Oh my Grimm," Raven's eyes went impossibly wide as she took in the sight before her... or, rather, the lack thereof. "The whole village is _gone_?"

"I heard from Briar... she just got back half an hour ago," Apple whispered. "I didn't believe it until I saw it, so I thought you'd have to see it first."

"Book End isn't like a pothole or a lake, though. It's not the biggest settlement, but..." Raven hesitated, and looked down towards where half a bridge hung over empty space. "It's just so surreal."

"I know," answered Apple. "It's kind of hard to think about it... just a couple of days ago, Darling and I were getting coffee down at Hocus Latte. Yesterday, the town was in ruins, but it was at least still _there_. And now... it's like a bottomless canyon stepped in where the town should be. It really puts things into perspective. How many people could have gotten hurt... how many people might be getting hurt, still, in other places around the world. It just makes me want to give everything I can to make sure that my people make it out of this okay."

"Apple..." Raven warned. "You aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting..."

"I'm not suggesting anything... more like helpfully reminding," Apple insisted. "But Raven, we _have_ to talk about it... we can't just put it off until the last minute. There's the very real possibility that I-- that I'll have to make certain sacrifices for the sake of my people."

"You can't even _say it_ ," Raven scowled. "You can't honestly tell me that you'd rather _die_ than consider other options?"

"Other options that we don't even fully understand yet," Apple shot back. "How many _other_ people will get hurt while we're scrambling for a solution that might not even exist? People's friends, people's family... they deserve just as much of a chance to live as I do, and I would _gladly_ lay down my life if it would mean their safety. If we complete the ritual that Professor Grimm outlined sooner rather than later..."

Raven glanced guiltily down at her hands. "I know. I just... Apple, I couldn't even bring myself to _poison_ you. When I think about the kind of magic I'd have to cast to _kill_... when I read that spell..."

Sensing that she had fallen back into an old, old argument of hers, Apple sighed and relented. "I know... your heart is simply just too good to hurt anybody on purpose. You'll never be evil, Raven, and I've accepted that... I might be willing to give my life for the greater good, but if you're not ready to take it, then the spell just won't work."

"It's not that I don't want to save everyone... I _do_ want to save everyone, including you," Raven explained. "But you've heard the story... it started with a poison apple for my mom, and it ended with trying to poison all of the magic and wonder in the entire realm, starting with its source at Wonderland. I'm... scared of myself, sometimes. Scared of the things my powers can do. What if... what if my magic decides it _likes_  killing, and I can't control it anymore? You saw what I almost did to Courtly Jester."

"That wasn't you, Raven," Apple insisted. "You were stronger than your magic was back then, and you're _still_ stronger than your magic is right now! Don't you have perfect control over it now?"

"Better control than I've had since I was a little kid," Raven admitted, and with a handful of perfect sparks, summoned a swarm of glittery butterflies that briefly twinkled in the air.

"See? That's good magic if I've ever seen it," Apple smiled back, a well of emotion budding at the corners of her eyes. "Raven... I'm not giving up just yet. Even in spite of all the horrible things that have happened lately, my happily ever after is so close right now, I can almost taste it. I just... I want to remind you that, even though it's a backup plan, we have to, well, actually _plan_ a little. Just in case?"

Raven sighed, and reluctantly agreed. "Just in case."

"Are we sure that the spell is cohesive yet?" Apple questioned.

"Honestly? I'm even really all that sure if _any_ of the spells we've managed to cobble together have any sense or meaning..." Raven groaned. "I mean, I can chant syllables and give them power all I want, but Professor Grimm's the one who really knows what he's doing with runes. Dex and Humphrey aren't that bad, either, but there's that thing about programming runes translating pretty badly into magical ones. Not to mention, West is missing, and he was important to the translating team, too..."

"West?" Apple furrowed her brow, not recognizing the name for a moment. "You mean the transfer from Emerald City? As in, the son of the Wicked Witch of the West?"

"Yeah," Raven hesitated. "I mean, don't get me wrong-- he said he flipped the script, and even got _expelled_ for doing it. I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason for... whatever he's doing. Even though, right now, we need runic translators more than anything... and he hasn't answered any of my hexts..."

"Raven," Apple bit her lip, and gently set a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Raven, I know you're the _last_ person who wants to doubt someone just because of their destiny, particularly since so many of our most basic rune translations come from his knowledge... but have you ever considered _what kind_ of rebel he might be?"

"Apple, that makes no sense," Raven shook her head. "What do you even _mean_ by that?"

"I mean that maybe he's not the kind of villain-destinied rebel who wants to be good instead. Maybe he's not like you," Apple whispered. "Maybe he's the kind of rebel who thinks that evil deserves to _win_."

Raven flinched, "There aren't any rebels like that! We all just want to write our own destinies, and choose the paths we want!"

"There _is_ one rebel like that, Raven, one rebel that we both know well," Apple's expression darkened. "After all... didn't your mom try to flip the script, too?"

"I mean... he never seemed evil. Not, like, visibly," Raven felt dread fill her stomach. "And we can't afford to doubt, now, we don't have the time to start over completely!"

Apple softened, "I'm not saying that he's definitely evil, or that if he _is_ evil, he's been sabotaging anything deliberately. I'm just saying... it's not completely impossible. We can't do anything about it now except try not to miss the extra translator."

"You're right," Raven exhaled slowly. She tried to smile, "Come on, we should probably get downstairs and pinpoint those thirty-seven reports."

"Right. The fairytale world needs us," Apple nodded once, determined, and together they rounded down the stairs.

But Raven's mind lingered on their conversation and on Apple's words, and understood that perhaps it wasn't only Apple's insistence on planning out backup plans for her backup plans that drove her motivation this morning. With all her heart, Apple would devote herself to her people and to the royal responsibility she'd inherited. A lump rose in Raven's throat as she thought that perhaps Apple had brought up her own willingness to alleviate _Raven's_ future guilt. 

She would be a perfect queen to her subjects, Raven realized. And so, squaring her shoulders, she knew what she'd have to do.

* * *

The stairs past the Headmaster's office were almost laughably easy to gain access to, Raven thought, and it was an uncomfortable reminder of how easily someone could set the Evil Queen free, even by sheer mistake. She ascended that staircase until she came to the room at the top, and with a flick of her wrist and a subtle unlocking spell, Raven had successfully infiltrated the tower that held her mother's mirror captive on all days of the year, save Visiting Day and school events.

She took a deep breath, and stepped in, "Mom? Are you up? I need to talk to you!"

"Raven?" Almost instantaneously, the Evil Queen's visage appeared in the mirror. "My, what an unhexpected visit! I don't suppose you've come to fulfill your evil destiny by setting your dear mother free?"

"Sorry, mom, still not happening," Raven shook her head. "Still _never_ happening."

"Let your mother dream a little, birdie," the Even Queen chuckled darkly. "Am I being allowed mirror-parole for Bookball season, too, then?"

"I can ask Headmaster Grimm if you're interested... but actually, I'm kind of, sort of," Raven rubbed her arm. "I'm not really supposed to, um, _be here_ right now, if you get my meaning."

"Ah, breaking rules... a spectacular baby step into the world of evil," the Evil Queen tapped her fingertips together. "When I was in school, oh, the forbidden corridors I broke into! I left a nest of rotten eggs above every teacher's room, you know. Well, regardless, what brings you to visit me today? Surely you have better places to break into than this dusty old place."

"I need some... advice," Raven shifted softly, the packet of spell notes tucked underneath her arm.

"Advice is a broad, broad topic, birdie," the Evil Queen tisked maternally. "Why, you could be asking for anything from homework help to overthrowing an empire!"

"And I guess you'd have things to say about both?" Raven raised a single eyebrow. Slyly, "Maybe what I _need_ is a little bit of both."

"Cheating and treason? I suppose you're shaping up to be your mother's daughter after all," the Evil Queen smiled fondly.

"I have this spell," Raven lifted forth her notes. "But I can't read some of the runes, or tell how they're supposed to be spoken. I thought that maybe a more experienced sorceress would recognize them."

"Well, let your mother see," the Evil Queen pulled on a pair of sharp, sharp reading glasses that seemed rather more for fashionable effect than any actual eyesight issue. "Well, well, well... that's certainly a nasty couple spells you have there. When you said you would write your own destiny, I did not think you would be so literal as to carve out your own, new Storybook of Legends in the very ink of life. As for myself, I'm not a regular fan of blood and death... you know I prefer enslavement and imprisonment, birdie, much less messy."

"I'm not going to hurt anybody-- at least, not until I have no other choice," Raven bit her lip, and carefully cut bits and pieces of the truth away to suit her needs. "It's more of a... backup plan."

"You may not see it now, but you truly shall stop at nothing to complete your goals, my little birdie..." the Evil Queen's voice swelled with pride. More professionally, "You have the line breaks in the wrong place; the first rune is an enumeration. Shift all of your lines one rune down, and then it's clear to see that those 'mystery runes' of yours are merely pronunciation notes for the runes directly prior. Long vowels and other such things. You'll want to read those first lines as 'from story to stone, from stone to earth; from life to death and from blood, rebirth.' I am sure you can figure out the rest from there."

"That's... surprisingly simple," Raven furrowed her brow, but some quick realigning definitely made the whole spell seem more comprehensible.

"And the other one?" the Evil Queen asked expectantly. "I may be trapped in the mirror-realms, but I can still hear that you brought more than one scroll."

"The other one..." Raven pressed her lips together, knowing full well that it was more complicated and more revealing of the situation than the spell she'd presented first. At last, she said, "That spell is plan A."

And this time, when she held it before the looking-glass, the Evil Queen lowered her glasses altogether. "Well... my, my, your motives are ever more complicated, aren't they? You've certainly learned to hide them well."

"My mom made sure I learned it, as a little girl," Raven deadpanned, her expression anything but joking.

"Manipulative today, are we? My, I'm proud," the Evil Queen grinned as she quickly worked out the best way to turn the situation around. "Evil suits you, little birdie, better than you're willing to admit. And why shouldn't it? After all... you learned from the best."

"I'm not _evil_ for doing things that have to be done for the good of all," Raven scowled. "Would you have given me the information I needed if I'd shown you this scroll first?"

"Strange you should say that, when trustworthiness is a trait of good," the Evil Queen mused. "Just as much as suspicion and paranoia belong to evil."

Raven, though, refused to budge on the matter. "I'm not paranoid... I just _know you_ well enough to figure out what you'd want in exchange for _rune translations_."

"I suppose that, if it were anyone else doing the asking, I would have leveraged my freedom against them. What is one Evil Queen, after all, in comparison to doom foretold in the legends of the ages?" the Evil Queen pretended to ponder. "However, as the story stands, it is my dearest daughter asking for help, and even I am not so evil as to threaten my own little birdie with her realm's demise. Thirteen couplets down, you are missing a clause that should weave the lifetime of all tales with the lifetime of this realm. Perhaps something along the lines of 'as long as tales are evermore told, weave forth the bonds of time and hold'... that is, if you're still willing to trust your own mother, even a little?"

Raven seemed visibly abashed by that shockingly earnest final question. "No, you're right... you've got just as much of a reason to keep the world in one piece as I do."

"I don't blame you for distrusting me, Raven... let us say it is only the evil in your blood that speaks to you," the Evil Queen spoke softly, having planted all the ideas she wished to plant. "But know this: your mother loves you, my dove, and do not forget that your father lives in your realm as well. The thought of both of you is all that keeps me sane in these long, long, quiet hours alone here in Mirror Prison. I don't care to lose either of you."

"I... I know, mom," Raven gathered her spell notes to her chest. Still, disbelieving for just a second, "And... you're sure you don't want anything in return for the information?"

"Well," the Evil Queen mused. "It has been a while since I've heard any Bookball news. As lovely as Mirror Parole permissions would be, I would settle for a report of the scores... I hear Little Red's daughter is on the team this year. She and I were roommates when we were your age, you know."

"Bookball reports, I can do," Raven smiled cautiously. "I should get back to work... try not to let Mirror Prison get to you, mom."

"Good luck with saving the world out there, birdie," the Evil Queen waved her farewell, and watched as her daughter hastened down the staircase, presumably to sneak away so that none would know where she had been.

Raven was not evil yet, the Queen decided, but that had not been the goal of her little back-and-forth. All that mattered was that Raven knew she had committed actions of a less-than-good nature-- that she was beginning to _believe_ she was becoming evil, even if she was not. Belief was a powerful force, the Queen knew, and it was a very, very slippery slope between believing oneself evil and committing the actual crime. A slippery slope indeed, she smirked, and carefully retreated back into the shadows of the Mirror Realm.

Her work here was done.


	13. Rewrite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever After mourns their queen, but the fall of the realms waits for nobody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holly o'hair, fanfic extraordinaire

Apple felt terrible as she stepped down from the podium, having wept her way through yet another taxing public address. She was grateful that Blondie had scheduled it for today instead of, perhaps, last night, but still-- though she had been obligated to deliver the tragic news of her mother's passing to the public, it had not made giving her speech any easier. More difficult still, the news that heroes had evacuated the hospital her mother had been taken to, but had not the time to spare for those who had already passed on. The very thought that a terrifying, gaping canyon would be her mother's final resting place... bile rose in her throat, and Apple struggled to swallow it.

The citizens of Book End sobbed openly, perhaps in part moved by Apple's own teary delivery, but more apt than not because Queen Snow White LXI, the 144th Queen of all Realms, had been truly been a beloved ruler. Apple had no idea if she would ever live up to her mother's legacy... or, indeed, if she would live long enough to see it fulfilled.

As she quietly stepped into the crowd, offering hugs and handkerchiefs to all that remained, the people of Book End began slowly filtering out of the auditorium, returning her condolences. 'Long live Queen Apple' was the blessing cast upon her, but Apple White felt far, far from a queen in that moment. Uncertainty plagued her every move, and she felt unprepared to be a queen, perhaps even not wholly prepared to be a princess, and she was a _high school junior_ , barely past her sixteenth birthday, whose preparations up until that point still had not yet prepared her for this volatile situation. Apple tried, desperately tried, to think of what her mother would do in a situation like this.

She swallowed, hard, and answered with the traditional reply: "Legends keep Queen Snow White."

And so, when the last of them left the auditorium, Apple curled up in the eaves where she normally sat as a student in this auditorium. It seemed that mere days ago she had been here for Freshman Orientation Day, and now here she was-- Queen of all the Realms, looking back upon it. It did not feel as she'd thought it would, even a mere two years ago, back when she had thought everything was as simple as following her destiny and achieving a happily ever after for as many of her subjects as she could help-- not now, when the very integrity of their world had been compromised. Not now, when nothing's existence could even be secured anymore.

She tried desperately to compose herself well enough to return to the halls of the school-building. Her people needed her, and Apple could not abandon them for her own melancholy.

"Um," a quiet, soft voice appeared just off to her right.

Apple's head jolted up, panic striking her for a moment before she realized just who had found her. "Oh, Darling..."

"Hi," Darling slid into the seat beside her, garbed in her typical mishmash of armor and skirts.

Apple tried to smile back, if but shakily, "Hi... long time no see."

"I missed you yesterday evening at dinner," Darling replied, unfolding a small picnic basket. "I thought you might be hungry by now... did you want to eat breakfast with me?"

"Apple crumb cake?" The slightest of smiles played over her blood-red lips, her appetite at last tempted by her favorite sweet.

"I made it myself... or at least, I tried to," Darling pressed a plate into her hands. "I'm afraid I never really managed to learn how to bake, and Ginger was busy helping the castleteria ladies make breakfast for our guests. My mom helped a little, though, so it should be at least edible."

A soft smile, then, as Apple lifted her fork to her lips. She bit into a pocket of flour that had been trapped by a lump. Still, she replied, "It's perfect."

"That's very high praise," Darling chuckled. "You know, I won't be offended if you don't like it."

"No, it's perfect," Apple insisted, shaking her head and smiling. She sniffled a little, "It's... exactly what I needed."

"Apple..." Darling's fingers extended hesitantly, as if unsure if she wanted to touch her shoulder or hold her hand. Her palm, eventually, decided to cup Apple's cheek.

Apple's eyelashes seemed to flutter down to nearly her cheeks as she glanced up, dewy tears clinging to the darkness of her mascara-- waterproof, as if she had foreseen this. Her lips, red, softened gently as she leaned in.

A dainty hand found the crease where Darling's spaulders met the silk of her gown, shifting metal against soft embroidery. The armor pressed against Apple's skin, unyielding even as the gap between them closed, and they shared their second kiss in the eaves of that emptied auditorium, sweet and rent with the taste of crumb cake and caramel lipgloss.

They drew away slowly, then, chaste. Darling's breath lingered, warm, upon her skin.

"It's even better when I'm awake," Apple whispered, cracking the slightest of smiles, her lipstick faintly discolored from the contact.

Darling grinned, her lipgloss smeared and tinged red. "Definitely better."

"Oh! Sorry... you have a little..." Apple flushed, and rummaged through her purse for a handkerchief, withdrawing a clean, embroidered square.

"I guess I do," Darling reddened to match her new lip. "Actually, I ought to apologize... I might have, er..."

"It's okay," Apple hurriedly assured her. "A good royal is always prepared... I mean, I always carry an extra tube of lipstick, not that I was expecting..."

"Right," Darling nodded, accepting the handkerchief and gently daubing away her lipgloss. "I'll get this washed and return it to you later?"

"Thank you," Apple blushed, politely turning back to her cake-- which, if she was to be honest, probably would have discolored her lipstick, anyways. She had only ever mastered eating apples without slightly, just slightly, leaving faint lines of red on her eating utensils. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to join you for dinner last night..."

"If I must be honest... that's probably for the best," Darling sighed and picked faintly at her own slice of coffee cake. "Mom and dad are kind of crazy to deal with even one at a time... and both of them, together, in one place can be a little overwhelming. Do you know that they asked for the traditional thirty-piece place-setting? When we were only eating stew like everyone else who fled to Ever After High?"

Apple concealed a chuckle behind her sleeve, "That doesn't sound all that strange if you know King and Queen Charming."

"It was royally embarrassing," Darling confided. Then, hesitating a moment, "You... _did_ remember to eat last night, right? Ginger said she hadn't seen you; she was worried that you forgot."

"In between all the emergency arrangements and speech-writing, I didn't really notice what time it was until almost midnight," Apple admitted. "But Maddie's dad... he was still up and baking, like he _knew_ people were going to be researching into the night. He was kind enough to offer me something to eat."

Darling nodded sagely, "I don't think he ever sleeps... part of me wonders if it's the caffeine."

The corners of Apple's eyes creased in smiling. "That would explain a lot about that family... but even if we know nothing else for certain, Maddie and her dad have been willing to share what they have with others since forever after-- and that's one of the most wonderful things about Book End."

"You really love your citizens, don't you?" Darling's heart grew warm at the expression on her face.

"All of them," Apple professed. "And that's why, if there's no other choice to save them... I hope you understand, Darling. I hope you don't hate me for it."

"It won't come down to that," Darling's jaw set sternly. "We have so much headway complete with the new Storybook... and Dexter finished building that semifractal collector thing to gather up the magic of those stories. Even now, we've already sent students to begin acting out the stories _they_ wrote. Don't talk like your destiny's been set in stone already... there's always hope."

Apple sighed, seeming almost as if she curled in on herself just a little. "It's just... _just in case_. I just don't want you to hate me for it, if that's what I have to choose..."

"I'd... _want_ to hate it," and then, Darling's expression softened. "But I don't think I could bring myself to really hate _you_ , no matter what choice you made. Just... please. Not until it's the only thing you can possibly do, the last idea that anyone can have."

"Okay," Apple's voice cracked, and the corners of her lips turned up weakly. "Not until the very last."

* * *

Holly O'Hair clutched one of many, many notebooks to her chest, grinning down at the scene that played out before her.

"They don't know what they're missing," Sparrow Hood scowled, crossing his arms and (exaggeratedly) sitting down at the edge of a stage. "If they want to kick me out of my own band, then that's ALL RIGHT WITH SPARROW HOOD!"

He closed that line with an exceptionally strong guitar chord and an exaggerated sniffle.

Holly squinted up at the eaves and whispered, hushed, in Farrah's direction, "A little brighter, please!"

Farrah nodded in understanding and dialed back her sunset-glamour a couple hours. "How's this?"

Holly gave her a thumbs up in reply, and gestured to where Melody Piper had been waiting just off to the side where the rest of the drama played out.

"So," she said easily, sliding in. "I hear the Merry Men kicked out their lead singer."

Sparrow crossed his arms, "That's lead singer _and_ guitarist to you."

Melody lifted an eyebrow. "With that attitude, I'm not surprised."

"I don't need them," he scoffed. "I'm the best musician out of all of them-- and they know it!"

"Best musician, maybe, but that doesn't matter," Melody shook her head. "Not when you're the _worst friend_. Don't forget why you started playing music to begin with."

"Uh, to show everyone that I'm awesome and get lots of chicks?" Sparrow gestured to his guitar.

Melody glanced at him dubiously, "The real reason."

"I don't know what you want me to say," he scowled. "I'm in it for the fans... nothing else."

"That's right, you're in it to make people move with _your_ music," Melody asserted. "That's why the Merry Men followed you to begin with. That's why you even _had_ fans, once upon a time. But you've lost your way, and instead of making people happy, you've become an attention-hogging _diva_. I'm no hexpert, but I know music-- and that's a major sour note."

"Whatever. I don't need the rest of the band, anyways," Sparrow threw his arms up. He played a riff, "MELODY RHYMES WITH SMELL-ODY!"

"Fine, then, if that's how you want to play it," Melody spun open her turntables. " _Until you sing your true self's song, your voice-- and music-- will be gone!_ "

Holly gestured to Farrah, and with a note of finality, she drew in the illusion of striking thunder.

"I hope you learn your lesson," Melody turned on our heel, "For both of our sakes."

And then, she swept away.

"All right!" Dexter announced, lifting his semifractal prism collector, a tiny dial lighting up as it began to fill. "It works!"

"Talk about a huge relief," Farrah sighed, dismissing her illusions. Mid-morning light flickered through the window once more.

"Melody, Sparrow... and, of course the Merry Men," Holly beamed at them. "I'll see you guys back here for chapter two after lunch!"

Sparrow opened his mouth, but only a squeak emerged. He scowled and scribbled something on a notebook page: **This fairytale SUCKS!**

"You kind of owe it to us to be the first to go," Hunter elbowed him none-too gently, scowling. " _Especially_ after you bailed on us for patrol duty yesterday."

Sparrow huffed and strummed his guitar furiously, but the strings, too, refused to make any noise.

"How many more chapters do you think we'll need?" Holly asked, leafing through the stories she'd successfully submitted.

"Um," Dexter squinted at the reading of light displayed. "Fifteen, maybe? Twenty? We just need enough storybook power for Raven to trigger the new spell, but I don't really have exact numbers on how much that is..."

"All right," Holly agreed, determined. "I can only hope Professor Grimm and Humphrey finish translating the rest of the chapters... Farrah, how are you holding up? Do you need a break?"

"I'm just getting warmed up," Farrah assured her. She wiggled and flexed her fingers, working out any possible cramps. "I'll need maybe a nap around noon, but I can do it."

That was the discussion that Raven Queen discovered when she appeared-- an hour late from the appointed time, as she'd texted in advance.

"Did everything turn out okay?" she questioned cautiously, peeking in. "I know the prism collector thing was from this super old book, but..."

"Oh! Um, hi, Raven," Dexter jolted, surprised. He held up the prism collector for a moment, before realizing and just holding it out to her, "It worked, just like the textbook said it would! The crystallized Lucinium should be able to hold the charge for weeks."

"That's great, Dex," Raven furrowed her brow for a moment as she accepted the handheld device, no larger than a MirrorPhone. She felt for the magical energy to confirm her suspicion."But... I was kind of, sort of expecting that a story would be able to generate just a little more than..."

"It's only been one chapter," Holly defended, seeming upset at the criticism.

"It doesn't have anything to do with the device or the story, or anything," Raven insisted. "It just... it's less than the amount we projected for an entire hour of story. And it won't be enough-- I can feel it."

"How many chapters do we need, then?" Farrah seemed alarmed. "Blondie had only approved twenty of them the last time we spoke..."

"I don't know," Raven admitted. "More than the amount we have, at least. Thirty, ish? Definitely not more than forty."

"But forty's twice the amount we even have!" Holly cried. "That's almost as many chapters as I've ever _written_!"

"Arguing about it won't fix anything," Dexter resolved. "I'll hext Maddie and Cupid about getting the writing and editing team together?"

"And I'll hext Blondie about seeing if there's anything in her not-quite-just-right pile that we can at least take one or two chapters out of," Raven agreed, tapping furiously. "Who's on next?"

"We're here!" declared Rosabella Beauty, ducking into the classroom with Duchess Swan in tow. "Sorry we're a little late..."

"I'm not acting out a story where _I'm_ the antagonist, especially not with the girl whose destiny is to save  _beasts_ ," Duchess scoffed. "I _demand_ to change the story!"

"No, no, don't worry, you're not _really_ an antagonist, even though it kind of looks that way in chapter one," Holly rushed to assure her. "In fact, by the time you get to chapter three, Rosabella frees you from the Curse of the Black Swan, and you get your own happily ever after! Lakeside castle and all."

"It's a little hard to have a lakeside castle when Mirror Lake is completely _missing_ ," Duchess sneered. She sighed, "Whatever. If it's a villain's song and dance you want, I'm not one to turn down audience requests."

"That's the spirit!" Rosabella gently patted her shoulder and bent down to lace up her newly-obtained ballet slippers.

"And lucky for you," Melody added, twirling another vinyl, "I happened to bring my classic-music mixes. Let DJ Piper keep things rolling for you... two hour ballet in three acts, coming right up."

The first act began with a truly tremulous performance, and Raven quietly sighed, relieved that Duchess had at last agreed to the matter. Finally, for the first time that morning, she let herself take a moment's repose.

"Is anyone sitting here?" she nudged Dexter slightly, gesturing to the chair beside him.

"No, it's, um, it's free," he smiled shakily. "You were... researching this morning?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably. She whispered back, "Sort of. I've got a final copy of the spell... and a final version of the back-up."

Quietly, so as not to disturb the ballet below, she slid the two scrolls in Dexter's direction. He did his best not to rumple the paper as he opened the pages, his eyebrows immediately rising upwards as he took in the newly adjusted runes on the left column, and their alphabetic pronunciation at right. It seemed, to his eye, something more like two _weeks_ of mystery-rune research than one morning's worth, particularly since Raven seemed to have written entirely new spell-stanzas from scratch using the same runes.

He made brief, questioning eye-contact with her. She bit her lip and glanced down at her lap, and that was all the answer he needed.

"You took my suggestion from yesterday..." Dexter ventured. He hesitated a moment, then: "Do you... maybe want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to say," Raven sighed. "Maybe I was... _overthinking_ it. I wasn't... _wrong_ to be suspicious of her, was I?"

"Definitely not!" Dexter hurried to assure, only quieted as a withering glance from Duchess silenced him. Much more quietly, "I mean... 'forgive and forget'  _is_ a lesson in a lot of fairytales, but it's kind of already been proven that it isn't the wisest thing to do all the time, you know?"

"Yeah," Raven wrapped her arms about herself. "If we learned anything from the Dragon Games... but I wasn't expecting her to give me all that information basically for free."

"It's not that strange for a parent to want to keep the world safe for their kids," Dexter thought briefly on his own parents' scolding the night prior. How their complaints had sprung only from a worry for their children.

"It isn't," Raven shuddered. "But I _expected_  her to be evil in spite of that. It's kind of... scary."

"I don't really get it," Dexter admitted. "But if there's anything I can do to help...?"

"It's all right," Raven shook her head-- of course Dex didn't get it, having been raised with all the naivete the side of goodness had afforded him. Being naturally wary of evil while simultaneously capable of offering second-chances to everyone who wanted one... well, he'd been one of the first to believe Raven herself when she'd professed to wanting to be good.

How could she possibly explain her own reasoning for jumping directly into manipulations before even _attempting_ something more honest? How could she explain that fear of becoming paranoid, especially to someone who had been raised to exalt innocence and trustworthiness instead? Raven knew as well as any that the Evil Queen of Snow White's story had merely been _unkind_ until she grew defensive of being 'the fairest,' and paranoid that Snow White would steal that title from her-- a distinction that her mother had made very, very clear in her childhood homeschooling. There was a progression between 'vindictive' and 'inherently evil,' and how thoroughly 'distrustful' toed that line!

She resolved to herself not to get Dexter involved-- at least not yet, not until she had something more substantial than her own vague suspicions as basis. It was a foolish thing to worry about, anyways, and Raven was _far_ from forgetting the slow doom that crept upon their realm even now.

Still, despite her best efforts to hide away that worry, Dexter offered her the tiniest of smiles, and semi-subtly set his hand atop the desk-space between them in an unspoken offer, just in case she needed it. Raven could not help but attempt a shaky smile back.

She softly set her hand atop his, keeping a careful eye on the prism collector and the ballet. _Work, please work_ , she willed it, for within her heart, the stakes had just been raised.


	14. Ignite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crumble like ash and vanish like smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost the end. chapters 15 and the epilogue go up tomorrow.

Ever After High's Headmaster regretted, in part, the fact that he'd had to leave his students and faculty to their own devices for the majority of this emergency.

That part of him disliked the idea of so much happening without his inherent knowledge or approval, the very same which insisted that he needed to take a more active role if he wished for everything to go smoothly. The other, more rational part forced him to swallow his pride and fulfill his other duties-- namely, the paperwork and communications that assured the academic community and allowed their progress to continue unhindered.

Giles had always been the more bookish between them, anyways. Milton Grimm decided that he'd gone to work, at least, at a task that made full use of his own force of personality.

"Again, that was Faragonda Goodfairy's latest research on maintaining your shelter's wards with transdimensional decay in mind," the Headmaster reported in conference-call with the other stewards of various emergency shelters. "Thus far, we believe that rationing food and water will not be necessary, unless you no longer possess a magical water purification source. If you find that your wards have been penetrated or compromised, do not panic, and remember to activate the levitation function _before_  you re-adjust your wards closer to solid ground. The next broadcast will be at 1300 hours; Headmaster Milton Grimm ending transmission."

With a weighty sigh, he ended that radio broadcast, buzzing in his next appointment with all due briskness.

"I've finished the MirrorChat with Wicked West... as you _insisted_ ," Baba Yaga looked nonplussed.

"She deserves to know if her son is missing," Milton Grimm justified. "Particularly when he _ought_ to be at school."

"Well, _contrary_ to your suspicions, she doesn't have the slightest idea where her child might have run off to," Baba Yaga frowned. "His actions are decidedly  _not_ on her orders, and as we have no reports of mishap or maliciousness, I can only presume that our student Celadon West hasn't suddenly run off to cause chaos... as his mother would have, back when she was his age."

"Madam Yaga, we have a student who is missing when all of Ever After is in a state of emergency," the Headmaster leveled. "Regardless of personal biases-- both yours _and mine_ , I'm aware-- any path that can lead to his recovery must be considered and pursued."

"Well... I agree with the principle, if not the motivation," Baba Yaga crossed her arms, agreeing reluctantly.

Giles Grimm, then, pushed past the doors to his brother's office, his every step urgent. "Look beyond these walls of glass-- what ill portend has come to pass!"

"The Evil Queen!?" the Headmaster jolted into standing, alarmed by the first thing that came into his mind.

Baba Yaga, however, had interpreted correctly-- and so, she stood, looking aghast, "The window?"

"What is--" the Headmaster sputtered, for a moment, before at last turning to look. He blinked, hard, as if by willing it forcefully enough, the vision before him could be merely a mirage. "No. That cannot be... Professor Goodfairy's prediction--"

"Was incorrect, as Professor West's scrying proved _weeks_ ago," Baba Yaga arched an eyebrow. "I did attempt to warn you."

"And now, there is little left of our realm," Giles Grimm pressed his hand to the glass, seeing before him the grounds of Ever After High, surrounded only with the emptiness of dark. "That small, shimmering landmass in the distance... with nothing left in-between, you can spy straight through to Snow White's castle. It is the same on the other side of the school, except the floating landmasses you espy are the emergency shelters which belong to Hood Hollow and Sherwood. It would appear that those, at least, seem attached to more than mere crumbles of land... well. It looks as if Ever After High truly is at the heart of the matter."

"Excuse me if I cannot leap for joy at the thought that my school is now a _floating landmass_ ," the Headmaster harrumphed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Giles," Baba Yaga eyed him ominously. "Your trust in our students is admirable, but perhaps your efforts are best spent with the _rest_ of the faculty in improving our wards."

"Perhaps that may be so, but I believe first and foremost in supporting our students in their goals, whatever they may be," Giles stroked his beard. "They have their eyes set on the most ambitious task of completing what we the academic community could not... repairing that which was sundered, and reversing that which was done."

"You may very well be attempting the impossible," Baba Yaga frowned.

"Well, then, I seem to be fortunate enough to have Miss Hatter taking my class," Giles Grimm chuckled. "The very student who's known for doing the impossible. And, of course, let us not forget Princess White and Miss Queen-- there are times where I think the sheer force of their will alone shall make them succeed. Now, then, I'd better return to rune translations... Humphrey Dumpty may be picking it up quickly, but even he cannot put a dozen translations back together again."

"Yes, well," the Headmaster straightened his tie, "Do not exhaust yourself. If you intend to assist the students, you must be at your best."

"I should advise you the same, brother mine," Giles chuckled, yawning faintly. "We could all use a little sleep after working well into the night. As for myself, I shall take a brief rest after proofreading my translators' work."

"I could curse you with eternal wakefulness," Baba Yaga offered. "Temporarily, of course."

"Perhaps I shall take you up on that offer after a nap," Giles chuckled, elbowing her faintly. "If I must be suspended in eternal wakefulness, I would rather be more refreshed."

"You _are_ unusually tired," Baba Yaga looked shocked.

"Were my veins filled with coffee in lieu of blood," Giles sighed. "I will take my leave of you now."

"An ill portend, indeed," Baba Yaga frowned.

"For once," Headmaster Grimm stared out his window. "For once, we agree."

* * *

"That's chapter thirty," Blondie passed off one of the approved stories, still yet in runic translation. "Do we have enough now?"

"Sorry," Raven winced, carrying the prism collector like a lifeline. "We've already acted out almost fifteen chapters... it's not halfway there yet."

"Our fairytale writers can't write any faster, and I definitely can't edit any faster," Blondie groaned. "This is so not just right!"

"Guys! You have to look outside!" Briar burst in, grabbing each of their arms.

Blondie looked visibly put-out, "I know you're big on making every minute count, but we really don't have the time--"

"Raven, Blondie!" Ashlynn hurried in a mere second behind. "Have you seen?"

"Seen what?" Raven shook away Briar's grip, but followed after her.

Almost certainly, the girls broke some sort of record as they crossed the school, running as quickly as they could. An enormous crowd of students gathered in the observatory near the top of the school, windows open to face all three-hundred sixty degrees.

Several students were panicking as they pressed their faces to the glass, utterly disbelieving the sight before their very faces. Apple stood there already, aghast-- Daring Charming had already fainted dead away onto the floor.

Humphrey swallowed, "Someone tell me that this is a prank... ha, ha, you sure got us all by painting the windows black..."

Chickadee Little, the daughter of Chicken Little, chose this time to squawk out that famous line of her father's: "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

And, unlike in her story, everyone glanced up at the sky to ascertain that truth. A chunk of the vast blue above fell, breaking itself on the school's wards and crumbling over the air above them like dust-- and in its wake, nothing but black remained.

"The sun is going," Maddie frowned, visibly perplexed. "Why, that seems like something it would do in Wonderland, not at all here at school!"

"That's because that's _not_ something the sun should be doing!" Apple snapped out of her horror, panic filling her veins. "Not now, when it's still the afternoon!"

"So, _Raven_ ," Faybelle crossed her arms expectantly. "Where's that spell thing you were working on? Because if there's ever been a time where we needed it, it's _now_!"

"Look, guys," Raven tried to alleviate the pressure of dozens of eyes all turned in her direction. "We finished writing the spell--"

"Then why haven't you cast it?" hollered a distressed voice.

"It's not that simple... my magic alone isn't enough to cast it," Raven tried to explain. She lifted the prism collector, "We need to finish charging this device with the energy generated by stories..."

"That looks pretty close to charged to me," Briar remarked, indicating the dial placed at three-quarters of the way full.

"What?" Raven turned her face and squinted at it, disbelieving. "That wasn't even halfway full when we came up..."

"I cannot tell a lie," professed Cedar Wood. "But real stories, happening right now, _have_ to be more powerful than ones that have just been acted-out... just like the truth will always beat out a lie!"

"That definitely makes sense," Blondie chewed her lip. "The only stories that _really_ feel just-right are the ones that at least have part of the truth in them..."

"Then... maybe we've been going about this the wrong way," Raven murmured to herself, feeling guilty for having wasted so much time. She did her best to shake the self-doubt from her thoughts, and spoke again: "But true stories don't just happen out of nowhere. We'll have to go back to acting out chapters..."

"I don't think there's _time_ ," Apple pointed to the sky, her eyes wide. The faculty's wards flickered orange, a moment, threatening to collapse beneath the weight of the sky as it began falling out in clumps. "Someone, quick, the lights!"

The sun fell over Ever After, leaving their sky altogether. Save for the fairy-lights that illuminated the observatory, Ever After seemed suspended in nothing, merely nothing. If Apple squinted in the distance, she could see the land begin to fall away around Snow White's castle, the home of her childhood, and felt more than knew that her citizens were in danger-- not fairytale danger, but real, active danger.

Raven swallowed as she watched determination set into Apple's face. "There's still enough--"

"Raven," Apple took a deep breath and straightened her posture. "I think we both know that there _isn't_ any time left. I think there aren't anymore options left... unless a _real story_ just falls out of the sky--" and this was punctuated by another thump of blue against the school wards-- "I think we both know there's only one thing to do. The backup spell, Raven... I'm ready."

"I'm not!" Raven snapped, her patience at last worn thin by this matter. "I'm not ready to do this! How can I just let my friend face her doom as if it's her _destiny_?"

"It _is_ my destiny," Apple stepped forth with the all command of her royal blood. "For better or worse, I _chose_ my royal tradition. I still choose it."

"Wait!" Cerise Hood huffed and puffed, throwing herself in-between the two girls. "I don't know what this backup plan is, but if Raven hates the idea of it so much... then I've got a real story, right here. I'm living proof of a story."

"Cerise..." Raven hesitated. "Your secret--"

"-- won't matter anymore if we're all dead," Cerise answered, taking a deep breath. "That was what you said the other day, wasn't it? That going off-script was the only way we could save everyone? You guys have sacrificed _enough_ to bring us where we are."

"What are you saying?" Apple furrowed her brow, visibly perplexed.

"What I'm saying is this," Cerise gripped the edge of her hood, hands shaking with the force of her clenched fists. "You guys need a story? Then I'm _happy_ to provide one."

Ramona Badwolf barked, her hair seeming to stand on end, "What are you doing?"

"Saving _all_ of our tails," Cerise swallowed. She curled her lips into a smirk, " _Big sis_."

And so, straightening her posture, Cerise Hood lifted her chin. Her hood fell away from her face, and the student body seemed to collectively gasp at furred ears on either side of her head. She didn't say anything more. She didn't _need_ to.

Raven's heart leaped into her throat, the secret at long last revealed, the story come full circle now. _Legends_ , she prayed, please. _Just enough to ignite the spell, that's all I need. Don't let this story have been told in vain._

And sure enough, in that moment, the prism collector released a soft _ding!_ Full fairytale power had been achieved.


	15. Restart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Go forward or rewind. (It's your life... to live _or_ to give away.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q: did i make a new css workskin specifically to format this chapter  
> A: yeah i totally did sorry if you don't like colored text

"Please proceed in an orderly fashi-- ow!" Hunter Huntsman winced as he heralded students out of the observatory. "That was my foot!"

"You're sure about this, Raven?" Farrah Goodfairy, having forewent her afternoon nap, squinted faintly at the re-pieced spell. "I've never seen that combination of runes before..."

"I mean, I see them all the time in dark magic... they're all over the General Villany hextbooks," Raven assured her. "They're pronounced a little like 'deathly doom,' which... should be used for the _opposite_ effect because of this rune here, in the next line?"

"Should be?" Farrah's brow creased. "I don't like the sound of _should be_."

"There's no time to argue about it," Apple decided, glasses perched upon her nose as she worked busily at drawing a spell circle upon the floor. "If the rest of Raven's runework is as well-written as the kind that I'm drawing right now, I'm sure the spell is as perfect as it can be."

Cedar finished outlining the last of the circles according to the specs on the spell-sheet, dusting bits of chalk from her wooden joints. "Don't worry, Raven... I trust and believe that you'll find a way to make this work, and I'm sure the rest of the school feels the same way... except Faybelle, maybe."

Raven sighed a little, "I'm glad you have faith in me, Cedar... I just hope I don't prove that your trust is misplaced."

"I heard that someone needed this book," the old professor toddled up the last of the stairs, grinning.

"Why, Giles Grimm!" Maddie lit up, waving at him. "You're just in time!"

"Yes, well," he cracked his back, "I couldn't very well miss my students' crowning achievement."

"All right, it looks like everything's set," Dexter adjusted his own spectacles, comparing the sight before him with the digital model on his MirrorPad. "Everyone, make sure not to smudge anything! Raven... are you ready?"

"Yeah," Raven nodded, and gingerly stepped into the circle carrying only the prism collector and the newly-created storybook. It shone with a faint shimmer of radiance as it crossed the boundary of the innermost line of runes, curling around Raven's feet like a drowsing cat. She straightened her back, she narrowed her eyes-- and with the voice of a Queen who commanded magic itself, Raven spoke:

> _From here to there, from there to gone,_  
>  _The memory Ever After ever did once-upon_  
>  _Forswore to fade in black of night,_  
>  _But here I set this wrong to right!_  
>  _Of deathly doom the realm be ware;_  
>  _Come back from gone to there to here!_
> 
> _The tales of old no more give voice,_  
>  _Claim each person their own choice_  
>  _Destinies no more to dread,_  
>  _Nor anymore to bind like thread._  
>  _But stories told through flesh and blood_  
>  _Hold the way pre-destined should!_  
>  _As the pages ever shift,_  
>  _Let the skies above us lift_  
>  _As missing words shall become found,_  
>  _Hold us all on solid ground_  
>  _As quill and pen and ink doth tie,_  
>  _The worlds that be shall never die_  
>  _No artifice this realm shall make;_  
>  _The future be our own to take!_  
>  _Bind the books and bind the stage_  
>  _Forthward spare the world this rage!_
> 
> _Obey my voice, this spell I cast;_  
>  _Let Ever After always last!_  
>  _As long as tales evermore are told,_  
>  _Weave forth the bonds of time and hold_  
>  _With pixie dust and hydrogen,_  
>  _Put our whole realm back together again!_

The room crackled in prismatic energy, Raven's fingers seeming to burn in the radiance of that light. She screeched with a birdlike pitch, the effects of the spell hurting her eyes as she shut them, tight, against the outburst of energy.

Glass shattered. The observatory's roof fell away as yet another chunk of sky collided with the barrier, breaking it once and for all. It was all the students could do to shield themselves from the onslaught of broken glass and sky-debris, shock and terror crossing each face in turn.

"What's happening? Why isn't the world coming back together?" Cupid managed to whisper, covering her mouth as she realized, with abject horror, just how quickly Nonbeing was closing in on them.

"No," Raven sucked in a breath, her voice hoarse with the finality of the spell. The empty prism collector clattered against the floor. "I... it didn't..."

"But it did," Giles Grimm put a wise hand upon her shoulder. "Things will happen as they must happen... but merely look within the storybook."

The students hurriedly gathered around the tome, wind whipping the pages as reality began to swoosh into the vacuum of nonexistence. Raven gasped, "The runes! They're gone!"

"No," Apple realized, running her fingertips over a story-- _her_ story, she knew instinctively, the second version of Snow White. "They're _waiting_... just waiting to be re-written."

A drop of blood from where a windowpane had sliced her finger fell upon the page, as white as snow. It formed beautifully into an elegant rune beneath, dyed the scarlet-red of blood, and within the black binding of the book cover, that page looked simply enchanting... and it was, for in that moment, the tiniest piece of the sky put itself back into place.

"Apple..." Raven's voice bore a cautionary note.

"You had the right spell, Raven," Apple's voice came soothing-- but sad, deeply sad. "You had the right spell, but you were missing something fairy, fairy important. You needed three things... the storybook. The stories' energy. And... me."

"There has to be something else we can do," Raven insisted. "Something we haven't tried yet!"

"Listen to your heart, Raven," Apple lifted her chin with all the imperiousness of her royal blood, the blood she would soon have to spill. "Listen to the part of you that knows magic best! You know what the answer is, just as surely as I do!"

"I..." Raven hesitated, and removed the back-up spell from her pocket. She stared at it, her heart heavy with dread, and in that moment, she _knew_. "Apple... forgive me."

"No," Apple swallowed. "Forgive _me_."

"Wait!" cried Darling, pushing her way into the center of the knot. "If it's royal blood the book wants, then take _mine_."

"You can't do that," Dexter argued, attempting to restrain his sister to no avail.

"Do you expect me to just _sit here_ when someone I care for is in danger?" Darling jammed her elbow into his ribs until he let go. "Sorry, Dexter, but that chapter of my life is _over_."

"No," something like regret worked its way into Apple's voice. "He's right."

"You can't just _die_ , Apple... Ever After needs their Queen!" Darling attempted to protest. _**I** need you_ , she thought but could not bring herself to say.

"There's no other choice. The book doesn't want just _any_ royal's blood," Apple, lowered her eyes, accepting her defeat beautifully, graciously. "The world refuses to be fixed until the original mistake has been undone... until we go back to the place where we diverged from the destiny that was laid out for this world. Snow White was never supposed to happen, was never supposed to exist... It has to be me, Darling. I have to do it so everyone can have a chance at happily ever after."

" _You_ were my new happily ever after," Darling's eyes lowered and a lump rose in her throat unbidden. _Be a hero for just one more minute_ , she told herself, _I can't cry yet_.

"And you were mine, from the moment I woke up," Apple whispered and squeezed her hand. "But happily-ever-afters were meant for princesses... and I can't be a princess anymore. For everyone in Ever After, I've got to be a queen. And just like the queens of old... I'll fulfill our royal destiny of walking voluntarily into death. And it'll be the last time _anyone_ ever has to."

Apple let go, a smudge of her blood lingering on Darling's white, white glove. She stepped into the ruined circle beside Raven, laying her cut hand upon the open storybook as it floated between them, opened directly to her page. She tried desperately not to seem ruffled by the world as it fell apart around them, knowing that Raven would need her absolute confidence and assurances.

 _This is okay,_ she attempted to communicate with her eyes. Apple attempted to smile, _I will give anything for my people. Even my life._

All Raven could see was the sheer _terror_ Apple had attempted to hide.

"Apple..." A maelstrom of emotion flickered in Raven's eyes before at last settling upon a grim determination. "I'm so, so sorry."

It was said, then, that the sound of Apple's heart breaking could be heard across Ever After, echoing in that vast expanse of nothing in mourning of friends and loves she'd leave behind. Red, red lips formed those final words: "I'm sorrier."

She bled.

* * *

And, perhaps not so very far away from the broken-roofed observatory, there sat a student, seeming wholly at peace with the end impending. Slim, verdant fingers carefully turned the pages of a stolen book, broken from its disguise as a treatise on Wonderlandian physics-- and half a tale, made whole once more.

> _Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes drifted from the sky like angels' feathers, a queen sat sewing before her window, cast open wide unto the untainted snow. But as she leaned over its frame of ebony wood, she pricked her finger upon her needle, spilling three drops of her royal blood onto the canvas of winter. Struck with the beauty of such a scene, the queen thought to herself: "O! if only I had a child with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as the wood in this frame."_
> 
> Queen White led her people with an unforeseen grace and good-will. 'Twas in her warm-hearted nature to offer mercy before punishment, and forgiveness before mercy. Her reign was an era of peace, a Golden Age among the realms of Ever After. Rulers of faraway realms sought out that queen for advice, for it was said that she was the Fairest in all the land, her heart set upon what was most just for her citizens. So great was her reign that her citizens feared for its end-- for the only concern about her reign was that she had no child to inherit the crown.
> 
> But the queen, as barren as winter itself, did not bear forth a child that year, nor the year before that, nor three years prior still. Her people among themselves whispered with worry as years passed ever-further into her reign, growing anxious with unease, as she had no heir to continue her rule. And though her king loved her dearly, he too grieved for the child that would never come to be, the child that he would never cradle within his arms. Her heart grew sick with want for the child of her dreams, a child who would someday grow to rule over all.
> 
> _And thus, that fateful midwinter, the queen hastened to the door of her dearest friend, the_  wisest most foolish _sorceress there ever was. She spoke to her of these such troubles, and begged of her a boon._
> 
> But the foolish sorceress felt ill at ease with such a request... for though she had granted potions of conception to many ere that moment, an odd feeling struck her. 'Twas a most peculiar feeling that settled in her gut, and thus, no matter how pitifully her dear friend begged, the sorceress refused to grant her this boon. The queen, reasonably upset by this betrayal, departed her friend's home in tears, leaving only the sorceress' guilty heart.
> 
> And when the queen's pleas did not work, she had shouted, and stormed away from her friend's home weeping furious tears with betrayal in her heart. In that bitter, bitter moment, she would have given anything, she thought, to have a child to call her own-- and it was that folly which ultimately drove her kingdom into ruin.
> 
> _And perhaps, in some world, the queen listened to the sorceress' word._
> 
> Some world, but not this one.
> 
> The desperate queen of this true realm became convinced that the sorceress withheld a secret cure for her ails, for she had heard-- she had been told of the dozens of women who, each day, visited the sorceress, unable to conceive a babe, each stranger receiving the potion that her _friend_ had refused her. Was it a wonder that she felt betrayed, a wonder that she'd sought out another way?
> 
> The foolish queen set forth a reward of obscene proportions for anyone who could come to her aid, nearly driving her kingdom's treasury to nothing in her search. So too did she receive an answer-- a reply which came from the darkest of witches, her soul so unclean that pure water could melt her. The queen made a poisonous pact with the witch, selling all but her soul to bear her child.
> 
> _She drank of that dark potion, and bore a child the next year. The babe was named Snow White, after the midwinter's day the queen had first seen of her. But then, the realm itself began to shudder into catastrophe after unforeseen catastrophe._
> 
> The ground crumbled away, first, in inches and then in miles. The sky fell away in pieces, and the world threatened to come to an end.
> 
> The queen knew, in that moment, that the realms suffered because she had brought a child to bear, a child who should not have existed. She knew, then, of the ill omen her sorceress friend had attempted to warn her of. She wept, and begged, and prayed that this wisest sorceress would forgive her for her foolish plight.
> 
> The sorceress knew, in that moment, that the realms suffered because she had refused to bring her friend's child to bear, that she had forced the queen to turn to a witch of ill omens to achieve her goals. She had foolishly misinterpreted the dread within her gut, and she wept and prayed that this wisest queen would forgive her plight.
> 
> _And so the queen and the sorceress wove together a plan, a way to undo this mistake._
> 
> The queen knew that it would be a fool's errand to attempt to return to all as it was, however much she yearned for the traditions of old.
> 
> The sorceress believed that if they could but weave a Legend from the blood of generations, they might yet have a chance to save this realm.
> 
> "I would give anything," the piteous queen pleaded, and offered up her own foolish life first to rectify the mistake that her own doing had wrought.
> 
> "I would give anything," the bravehearted queen proclaimed, and offered up her own noble life first to rectify the mistake that her friend's doing had wrought. 
> 
> _Thus, with a heavy heart, the_ wise pitiful _sorceress slew her dearest friend, and writ the tale of Snow White with her blood._
> 
> The wise sorceress despaired to sacrifice even the life of a fool, and I write this now, dear reader, in the hopes that she shall read my tale and someday forgive herself-- for she is a good woman at heart, a better woman than so piteous a queen could ever be.
> 
> To punish herself evermore for her foolishness, the sorceress cast herself as the cruel villain of the tale, lest her descendants ever forget that it was she who was the traitor, she who had nearly ruined the realms, and she, who even had the capability within her heart to slay the friend she held most dear. I write this now, dear reader, lest I ever forget-- my hands have slain a woman who was good at heart, a better woman than so Evil a Queen could ever be.
> 
> **_Forgive me, friend, my foolishness._ **

The end of his lip twitched upwards into a smirk as he shut the book with naught but a gentle _thud_. How strangely, thought he, that the realms worked still in circles even long after they'd been abandoned by the powers that be. Long after the multiverse-tree decided that their branch was no longer worth the keeping. How strange that these events should come to pass once more, how strange for the spill of blood to once more bind the worlds together.

Well, he decided-- that was reason enough to intervene, to disrupt the ritual taking place upstairs. And so, with a twist of his wide-rimmed hat, Celadon West, son of the Wicked Witch of the West, cast his spell, soft.

Green butterfly scales flickered away from his fingertips.


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ordeal is over... for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for sticking around until the end.

Morning dawned on Ever After as if it were the first time morning had ever dawned.

The skies pieced themselves together, the ground rose once more beneath their feet. The castle began putting itself back together-- what parts of it had been destroyed by the onslaught of the very universe come crumbling down, that is.

All the world, for once, seemed as if nothing at all had happened... save but one.

"Is she..." Briar's hesitant voice cut out of the crowd.

"Only sleeping," Darling announced with no small relief, holding a pale, pale hand within her own. One apple-red band-aid was wrapped around an injured index.

"Phew," Briar sighed out loud, delighted. "She always donates at the annual Royal Blood Drive, but... well, you know... Apple's always been an overachiever."

More than a handful of the gathered royals chuckled a little at that joke, in spite of the grave situation they had narrowly escaped.

Raven managed a weak smile before quietly tiptoeing away from the dormitories, quite frankly exhausted after the events of the night. It had been a long an laborious process, she thought, explaining everything that had happened to the people of Book End. She had absolutely no idea how Apple did the whole public speaking thing-- and on a regular basis, no less.

"Tea?" Maddie offered, knowing that her best friend surely must be exhausted after the night she'd had.

"Maybe in a little while, Maddie," Raven shook her head, but offered a weak smile. "There's... something I need to see. Or, I guess... some _one_."

"I'll keep it warm for you," Maddie grinned. "Ooh! Maybe I can see if dad has any fresh cakes ready... it's Twelve-Hour Tea Thursday, after all!"

"You go ahead," Raven waved her away before slinking back down the stairs, beginning her search from the top of the school, down. She desperately needed sleep, after last night's events... but there were questions that pressed upon her, more urgent.

She found her target sitting quietly in the Spellcasting Ethics classroom-- fitting, she thought, considering the nature of his actions.

"I expect you want an explanation," Celadon West shut the stolen tome unceremoniously.

"I... definitely have a few questions," Raven arched a skeptical eyebrow, eyeing the wizard carefully. "What happened to your robes?"

"I had an unfortunate run-in with a projectile elephant in Wonderland," he answered, deadpan. "And I am sure you did not come here to interrogate me about my clothes."

"No, I didn't. What I really want to know is what spell you cast," Raven narrowed her eyes. "And what cost was there?"

"Simple blood-based plasma substitution," West pulled another book from his sleeve-- a spellbook, Raven realized. Wonderlandian. "The Riddlish was a complete mess... I suppose I am only fortunate to have had a local with me when I found it. As to the cost? Coconut water, butterfly sparkles, Wonder from the Well of its very source... and let us not forget, those all-important three drops of blood. Whether the wand of ebony counts as a cost... I believe it qualifies as more of a focus."

"I mean," Raven scowled, "What cost did you mean for us to  _pay_?"

"Nobody is heartless enough to let their world fall into ruin," answered West. "Not even the most evil of the evil."

"You stole Lizzie's book," Raven explained. "You were acting suspiciously!"

"I returned it to her this morning, unharmed... though my goals were so urgent that I did not quite have the time to ask," West replied, shaking his head. "And you know as well as I... when you are descended of a villain's bloodline, merely breathing is more than suspicious enough. Is that not so, Raven Queen?"

"... maybe," admitted Raven, reluctant. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell anyone about what you were doing."

"Wonderland has terrible cell reception," he looked faintly contrite. "And between the flying elephants and similarly dangerous fauna, I didn't exactly have the time to check for bars. I was only expecting to pop in for three hours at most, especially considering... well. I don't want anyone to think that I'm evil for saying it. Perhaps I'd best hold my tongue."

"Perhaps you'd better tell me," Raven frowned, "Before someone tries to make you  _lose_  your tongue."

He drew his expression gravely, "I thought it was a fool's errand to even attempt a search for Meeshell Mermaid. It was a waste of time... if she had perished, then there would be nothing we could do except stew in that knowledge. If she had been safe, then she was likely to  _stay_  safe. But all of you... nobody would doubt for a minute that you're good people. And I thought, perhaps, if you all agreed that a search was the  _most good_  course of action..."

"It was," Raven insisted. "Our goals were to keep  _everyone_  safe."

"One person, to the detriment of all others?" West leveled. "I am sure your friend is a lovely person, but would it have been worth it? If a search where both outcomes would be inconclusive had led to a delay in research that had destroyed the world in its entirety?"

"M... maybe..." Raven hesitated for a moment.

"It was only luck that my hunch led me to the blood substitution spell," West admitted, sighing deeply. "And it took far more time than I'd like. I tried to hext you my progress once or twice, but..."

"I've been to Wonderland," Raven shook her head, at last sitting down as well. "I know what it's like over there."

"You must think me a fool, then," West chuckled dryly. "You must think me a fool for having thought I could accomplish  _anything_  in Wonderland within three hours."

"Just a little," Raven laughed back, shaking her head.

"This is the full tale," West offered the book he'd held, the stolen one which had been cursed to conceal its true pages. "And, thus, the story comes full circle-- the line of Queen White will come to an end with Apple, who shall bear no heirs. It sounds like an ancestor of mine, perhaps, had contributed to this grief... and, hopefully, my own work has managed to redeem my family, if only a little."

"You can come back, you know," Raven glanced at him quizzically. "You don't have to hide in here... everyone knows that you went on a secret mission. Everyone knows that your spellwork is the only reason Apple is still alive."

"Perhaps I had better not. Not yet, at least," West replied, low and solemn. "Our classmates, as you say, have considered me a traitor these past two days, particularly for my absence in this time of emergency. One slip-up can follow you around for a lifetime-- it only takes one mistake for the people of Ever After to turn on the child of a villain. It is the cruelest truth known to children like we."

"I don't think so," Raven shook her head. "You can only be the best version of yourself you can be. And maybe, someday, Ever After will have reason to hate me... but that day isn't today."

"It could have been," West's eyes intensified. "It could have been today, had your second spell succeeded in killing  _her_."

Breath caught in Raven's throat for a moment, the recollection of having almost murdered her friend-- however much Apple had begged to be allowed to give up her life in exchange for her people's. How she felt like she might never forgive  _herself_  for the evil act she had almost committed.

"No," Raven insisted, unsure if she was trying to persuade West, or... "No, they  _wouldn't have_."

"They wouldn't have," West agreed. Then, softly: "But you believed me, for a moment, didn't you?"

She had, Raven realized. And this bitter fear, this mistrust... she shuddered at the thought that this could be the first step down the path of evil.

"I should go," Raven stood, brusquely pushing in her chair. Then, as she realized how very coarse she'd sounded, "I mean, I'll... see you later?"

"Right... " West murmured faintly, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it... I'm being needlessly philosophical."

Still, Raven made a hasty escape from that classroom, feeling as if a thousand ice-cubes had been shoved down the back of her dress. She hated to admit it, but ever since her mother's words at their last visit... the doubt had been niggling at her.

Caught up in her thoughts as she wandered the empty halls, Raven bumped into someone passing by, causing him to trip. In a split-second, she instinctively caught him and all the objects he'd been carrying, suspended mid-trip by a spell.

Dexter smiled sheepishly, turning red up to his ears. "I, uh... hi, Raven. Double espresso? Extra mocha?"

Raven's eyes flickered briefly to the other objects she'd absentmindedly caught. Coffee cups.

"I am so, so sorry, Dex," she carefully released her magic hold on him, setting him down on flat feet once more. She tried a smile, "It's... kind of been a long night."

"I know," Dexter took the mugs from where they'd been suspended midair. He held one out to Raven, "Um... coffee?"

Raven grinned, something tense in her shoulders melting in that moment. "Coffee sounds perfect."

"Blondie Lockes here with the latest in Ever After High Spellebrity gossip," Blondie broke the sweet moment by sliding in. "Two days ago, Dexter Charming and Raven Queen were spotted emerging from Hocus Latte at five in the morning! After  _hextremely_  close work together in saving the realm of Ever After, is Dexven ready... to go  _official_?"

"Um," Dexter stuttered, eyeing Humphrey Dumpty behind the camera as if he were the worst of traitors. He glanced briefly at Raven, unsure what to say. "Dex... ven?"

"No comment," Raven blushed back, trying not to make eye-contact with the camera lens.

Blondie pouted for a moment before perking up, "Never fear, faithful viewers! It looks like Dexven isn't the only high school spellebrity pair out in the halls today! After donating too much blood in yesterday's emergency, it looks like Princess Regent Apple White has made a full recovery... no doubt with the help of Darling Charming, of  _the_  Ever After Charmings! Do you guys have anything to say to our faithful viewers?"

Apple gave a faintly anemic wave at the camera, beautiful even in her exhaustion, "Hello, citizens of Ever After, thank you so much for your care and understanding! I was royally delighted to wake up to the news that nobody was permanently hurt as a result of the unfortunate happenings of the past few days. Right now, I think it's most important to spend time with your friends, family, and loved ones..." Here, she looked into Darling's eyes for a quick, shy moment. "Just as certainly as I am."

Darling's cheeks reddened. "It has been a pleasure speaking to you, Blondie... but Apple and I should really get to breakfast. Protocol insists on nourishment after donating blood, after all... and I believe the Mad Hatter has chosen to volunteer in the castleteria today."

"Aaaaand there's apple crumb cake!" Maddie added delightedly, popping in from the bottom of the frame. She giggled madly-- insanely, some might say-- but none could deny that the flush on Darling's face deepened, and even Apple in all her pallor was beginning to look a little redder.

Blondie sighed contentedly and shrugged, "Well, you heard it here first, folks! The world isn't ending, and maybe-- just  _maybe_ \-- some of our just-right couple picks are just beginning. This is Blondie Lockes, signing off!"

Cupid sighed, her heart heavy as she closed the tab where she'd been watching Blondie's MirrorCast. As happy as she'd tried to be, especially for Apple and Darling, there was something that still yet weighed her down. Something that throbbed painfully whenever she saw Raven and Dexter, together, alone.

"Why so glum, chum?" Maddie popped up from the frame at top, and when Cupid looked up, startled, she found that the girl was hanging upside down on a tree branch.

Cupid bit her lip. Was she even capable of explaining this frankly?

"My heart is a little... bent out of shape," she at last decided to say. "It's silly, isn't it? I should be happy to even be alive, but I'm just..."

"Heehee! Silly is right!" Maddie pulled a funny face, just to watch Cupid stifle a laugh. "Why, it's almost as if you don't remember talking to the stars at all!"

"What are you talking about?" Cupid hid her smile, considerably less gloomy than before.

"I told you before... the shape of the shape doesn't matter, only how  _you're_  shaped by such a shape," Maddie poked a rosy cheek. "It matters not what you call a  _star_  or a  _heart_  or a  _circle_. Those are only shapes given to describe the same thing, which truthfully has no shape at all, and therefore,  _can't_  be bent out of shape... only shaped differently, in your mind."

"How could I have forgotten?" Cupid shook her head and laughed, honestly and truly. Then, more softly, "Thank you, Maddie. You're brilliant... and don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

"Why, thank you!" Maddie beamed, clasping her wrist. "Now, we'd better hurry-scurry to breakfast before all the frabjous clay and livelong-day pass us by! We've got a lotta, lotta studying to do to make up for the past few days, after all!"

"All right," Cupid grinned, and followed her out to the castleteria.

Thus, the lives of the students of Ever After continued on, destiny unhinged from choice and choice unhinged from their survival. And though Headmaster Grimm tacked on three class make-up days at the end of the school year calendar, much to the students' chagrin, it was a small price to pay-- for the world had not ended, and this was joy enough.

After all... the end is just the beginning.


End file.
